


The Don's Daughter and Me

by Life_is_HELLA_strange



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), pricefield - Fandom
Genre: AU, Angst and Feels, Blood and Violence, Drug use/Dealing, F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Sex, There is a lot of tags, but to many spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-08-04 14:13:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16348244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Life_is_HELLA_strange/pseuds/Life_is_HELLA_strange
Summary: Always going from job to job, gun in one hand, knife in the other, looking for the next adrenaline rush. You finally find what you think is going to be the biggest thrill you've ever had when you're offered the job of a lifetime. But maybe this is one work commitment that doesn't have the end you envisioned.





	1. First meetings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, another new one here for you to enjoy or not. This story has a lot of everything in it and will have some mild distressing scenes later on but nothing to explicit. But I will put warnings in before the start of that chapter. Other than that I really hope you like this one. And as always please send me a message if you want to chuck some abuse or a like up to you ;)

- **Chloe **-****

********

“So, Miss Price do we have a deal?”  
  
I finish looking over the file of the girl they want me to protect and I know the name it’s probably the most prominent name in and out of the crime and drug syndicate. I close up the file in front of me and take a sip of my drink then look to the two men across from me who were sent by the girl’s father.  
  
“I have one question first?”  
  
The one who looks like some extra from the Godfather films nods.  
  
“Why me?”  
  
The other one who looks like the real Godfather and has not spoken a word since they arrived actually speaks, “We need the best and you are the best Miss Price. You are married to the job and nothing else and that is a very rare quality. You don’t have a life outside of your work and your skills, not limited to for tracking and protection cannot be beaten. Now Miss Price do we have a deal?”  
  
I down the last of my drink, pick up the folder and stand up before I say, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” And I make my way out of the bar...  
  
_____________

The next morning, 07:43 am.  
  
Well here I am sat outside one of if not the biggest drug lord king pins house, well it’s more like a fucking castle. I don’t think I have ever seen a place this big before and I’m not kidding I’ve been around the White House. But this place is actually on another level and sits on a land equal to an entire neighborhood. There are security guards everywhere all trying to look discreet and not be noticed but I see them, they stick out from the other goons hanging about.  
  
This is some deep level shit right here but I want this job I love the thrill that it gives me and not to mention all the resources I could ever need to do some side investigations of my own. I haven’t had a good challenge in a long time either, even if this is just babysitting some drug barons spoiled little rich daughter.  
  
With a deep breath I get out of my car and make my way to the front door. As I’m approaching I can see them all eyeing me, sizing me up and then the two at the door step closer together to halt my approach.  
  
“Name and ID?”  
  
I internally roll my eyes with a groan as I get my card out the guys at the bar gave me.  
  
I hand it to the man and answer, “Price.”  
  
He studies it and me for what feels like forever before he nods, “You’re early but expected.”  
  
He hands it back to me as he says, “You will need to be searched first. Are you carrying?”  
  
“Yeah. A Glock, a spare mag and a blade.” I hold them out to him so he can see.  
  
The other dude takes them and checks the clip in the gun and the spare as the first one tells me, “Ok hold out your arms.”  
  
He uses his metal detector over me and thoroughly pats me down.  
  
The other dude hands my stuff back and opens the door, “Wait in the hall. The boss will meet you soon.”  
  
I give him a nod as I place my knife back on my belt with my clip, my gun in its holster and make my way inside. 

I walk into the massive hall and look about at the place and it’s like a modern version of one of those Italian gangster movies. Marble floors, stone pillars, ornate paintings and statues, flowers and a huge chandelier with what looks like its encrusted with diamonds an—  
  
“Miss Price, if you would like to follow me?”  
  
I suddenly hear a woman’s voice and I look over to see a brown haired thin, tall lady dressed in a pencil skirt and a black blouse, maybe in her forties.  
  
I nod and follow her as she says, “Mr. Caulfield is very glad you decided to join us here...” We head through to a very large, what looks like a lounge area, “...If you would like to take a seat. Can I get you a drink?”  
  
“No thanks I’m good.”  
  
“Very well. Mr. Caulfield will be right with you.”  
  
With a nod to her she leaves to the other side of the room and for me to wait on my own. But it’s not long before a door opens and two men come out. One is average height and build, slightly disheveled hair and wearing a normal suit. He looks like a cop or something like it, I’ve seen enough of them to recognize one and he looks very familiar. The other is a tall well-built man, cared for hair and wearing a very expensive looking suit and shoes. He is definitely the boss, no doubt there and my soon to be boss. He has an awe of arrogance but doesn’t need to flaunt it to show he holds the power, by the way he stands proud with authority and the other man stands slightly hunched and submissive to him.  
  
They shake hands and the boss places his other hand on the man’s shoulder, “Do not mess this up again Alexis...” 

Holy shit that’s Alexis De’faunt the head of the FBI, what the hell! No wonder I thought he looked familiar, just a lot older and worn down. 

“I do not like having my business interrupted. I would hate for you to lose anymore... personal items. Now go, make it happen.”  
  
Alexis nods and very quickly replies, “Yes, of course. I promise there will be no more screw ups sir.”  
  
The boss places his hand on his cheek and says with an awe of you do not want to fail me again, “See that there are not. Now leave us.” He finishes with a couple of hard pats on his cheek and turns his back to him.  
  
Alexis walks off with his head down almost like it’s already on the chopping block to be hacked off.  
  
It probably is I think to myself as I hear the woman and boss mention my name, “Yes Miss Price is already waiting.”  
  
“Thank you Tasha. Bring me my usual through and my daughter.” There is a slight grazing of hands as they stand together.  
  
“Yes sir.”  
  
Tasha as she was called walks away with what looks like a blush and a bigger sway of her hips and I notice boss man give her ass a glance. Yep definitely fucking but that shit complicates things. I don’t see the point myself the job is what matters it’s the best thrill around.  
  
He now turns his attention to me, “Miss Price it’s a pleasure to finally meet you...” I stand up as he comes over to me and I hold my hand out, “...I’ve heard great things and your resume is definitely quite the read.” But he ignores my hand as if I shouldn’t have done it and I’m too low and unworthy to shake hands with.  
  
I drop my hand trying not to scowl at him as I reply, “Thank you sir.”  
  
He smirks then takes a seat opposite me and gestures for me to sit back down, “So, tell me about yourself Miss Price?”  
  
“You have read my file..”  
  
“Yes I read your file. But that does not tell me about the person you are. I am to leave my only daughter in your care. I would like to know what kind of person she will be left with.”  
  
He is not really asking it’s more of a demand. 

Fine I’ll play ball, “I’m an only child, no parents and I used to live in Oregon...”  
  
“Arcadia Bay if I’m not mistaken and parents were Joyce and William Price who died in a shooting when you were fifth-teen. You were kicked out of school at the same age and arrested on numerous occasions for various misdemeanors. Including drugs, violence and vandalism to name a few. You have lived in a few different states but never settle down in one place for long and go from job to job. And you despise the authorities.” He cuts in.  
  
Ok so he may have done some homework on me not surprising really. But still, his been watching me for a while it seems and I didn’t even know.  
  
“You have been checking up on me?”  
  
“Of course I have. I wouldn’t just allow anyone into my home or near my child if I didn’t know everything about them. So, I will ask you again. Tell me about yourself, your character?”  
  
I give an internal frustrated groan because I hate talking about myself and this is one reason I don’t want to make friends.  
  
But I suck it up because his not exactly someone you refuse and this is one big fucking job for a long time with all the resources I could ever need. And it’s definitely going to be a thrill ride of adrenaline I can feel it already.  
  
As I’m about to answer a girl comes in, brown hair with a red streak in the front of a long choppy bob. She’s wearing a pair of quarter length skinny trousers in a dark khaki color and a tight white short shirt half tucked in with a few buttons undone at the top and bottom. Really kind of sexy in that cute nerd kind of way. She gives me a stare before she turns her attention to her, I assume her dad and she’s the one I’m looking after. I’m not sure because I never saw a photo of her and couldn’t find an awful lot out about her through my searches.  
  
“Dad, you never told me you were back.” She goes up to him and they share a small hug.  
  
“Maxine my baby girl...” I see the girl try to hold back a grimace when her dad called her Maxine but she smiles brightly at him, “...I missed you. Did you do as I asked while I was away? Remember this will all be yours one day.”  
  
“Yes dad everything is sorted...” She answers as if bored but pauses when she looks at me, “Should you be talking about this in front of the new... help?” It makes me bristle a little the way she says ‘help’. Got ourselves a little princess here I think.  
  
“This is Miss Price, your new guard.”  
  
“Babysitter you mean...” Maxine mutters as she turns her head away before she whips it back to her dad, “...Wait where’s Tara? She never said she was leaving.”  
  
“Tara has been moved on. She does not need to tell you where she has gone, she is my employee.”  
  
“But she was my friend, she would have said something. She didn’t even say goodbye.”  
  
“No! She was hired help, nothing more. And she was only ever with you because I paid her to be.”  
  
Maxine turns away from her dad with a wince and she looks sad now, paler after he said that and sits on the couch next to me. It was a shitty thing to say I have to admit.  
  
I hear her mutter, “How would you know you’re never here. She was more to me than you will ever know. Asshole!”  
  
“You will forget all about her Maxine and her ways. She is no longer here and that is all you need to know.” 

Wow ok that sounded more like she is not living, as in dead. What the hell! Does he just pop them off when he has no use for them or they piss him off?!  
  
Mr. Caulfield turns away for a moment as he fixes a drink and asks, “Now, where is your mom?”  
  
I notice Maxine scowl at mom but smiles again as she answers, “Jessica.” She almost gags on the name as she grits her teeth with the smile, “Is working at the club father.”  
  
His eyes narrow a little as he turns back, “Call her your mom, not Jessica! Or we will have another problem...”  
  
Her dad carries on talking as Maxine mutters just loud enough to hear, “She’s not my fucking mother! She’s one of your dumbass twinkies, who’s barely older than me.” I have to hold a laugh back when she says that.  
  
“Max listen. I know you miss your mom but she left—"  
  
“She didn’t leave father, I know she didn’t, she wouldn’t do that to me. Just like everyone else you say leaves...” She air quotes the leave part with a growl, “...and you don’t seem to care where she went or what happened.”  
  
“Do not presume to know how I feel Maxine!”  
  
She gets off the couch and moves closer to her dad and angrily says back, “How can I not because I don’t know you and you are never here. Always off with a new piece of ass, just like you did when mom was still here.”  
  
Ok this is kind of getting out of hand quickly but I can’t do anything, it’s not my place I think to myself and try to sink into the couch to not be noticed.  
  
But then her dad gives her a swift hard back hand across her cheek making my eyes widen and grip the cushions to reframe from jumping off the couch and giving him a slap back.  
  
Maxine holds her cheek as her dad says, “Max you push me too far every time we talk about your mother. You have no right! And you’re just like her with your mouth. I hate the reminder when I look at you or have to hear you.”  
  
“Good! I’d rather be like her than you. At least she loved me.”  
  
“Don’t push me girl. Now you will take yourself to your room and you will not come out until it’s time for work. I will be gone for a few weeks and expect the jobs done. And do not embarrass me in front of my workers again. Now get out of my sight!”  
  
“Gladly.” Maxine mutters.  
  
———————————  
**-Max- **  
****  
I slam my bedroom door shut behind me and walk over to my stereo on and turn it on.  
  
I rub my cheek a little with a wince. He has definitely perfected that slap to make sure it stings just right and inflicts the right amount of pain.  
  
I kneel down in the corner of my room and peel back the carpet, then lift the floorboard up to my secret stash place and take out one of the boxes from it. I go to my bed and slump down onto my mattress with it, open it up and take the photo of my mom and me from it.  
  
“Fucking asshole! Comes back after being away for about a month and expects me to call that thing mom. Yeah right, I have a mom and I’ll find out what happened to her because I love her unlike you.”  
  
I sit here for a while just going through some of the things that I kept of moms before he could chuck them away. Basically, as soon as she wasn’t here he got all of her stuff and chucked or burnt it as if she was never here. I managed to save a few things, but this box is all I have left of her now…  
  
I wipe my eyes and get off my bed just needing to get out of here and there’s always somewhere I can go and be with two people I know love me.  
  
So, I place everything back in my hiding place then go over to my bag and check my wallet and phone are in there. I place it around my shoulder and make my way to my window.  
  
This is my escape route and I have never been caught by dads’ goons but they would never tell him I got away from them even if they noticed I was gone. And dad would have left by now on his ‘business trip’ and I need something to take my mind from things and let loose.  
  
“Ha and dads’ new babysitter won’t stand a chance. She will just have to get used to running around looking for me like the others before. If she even notices I’m gone that is. No-one ever does.”  
  
——————————  
**-Chloe- **  
****  
Jesus this family is all kinds of fucked up. After the fight between Maxine and her dad he told me that she isn’t usually like that it’s only when her mother is mentioned and I’ve never hit her before but she tries my patients. I just nodded along because there isn’t really a lot I can say to him like, yeah right, I bet you haven’t hit her before without maybe getting something cut off or worse a bullet to the head if I was lucky to have a quick death. I thought she was going to be another one of those spoilt little Disney princesses but maybe she’s not and she is just in a hard place.  
  
After being shown to my new room where I will be staying for the foreseeable, really nice too. Big and roomy with everything I could need. Mr. Caulfield left for his business trip and me with the task of keeping his daughter safe. Anything she needs or wants I am to do including driving her around wherever she wants. I think it’s more to keep tabs on her myself and he said she doesn’t usually go out, spends most of her time in her room. Shouldn’t be too hard then and if she’s locked away in her bedroom there isn’t a lot for me to do other than stand guard outside. Which I have been doing for the past hour now. I did scout out the house first for any and all weak points and escape routes if needed. But it’s locked down pretty tight. I like to know the place, to get a feel for it and it’s always better to be safe than sorry.  
  
I’ve been listening to this same song now for about thirty minutes. Some moody sad song about death and loss. It was alright at first but after hearing it for like the hundredth time I’m kind of over it.  
  
I feel like maybe I should knock and introduce myself especially if we are going to be spending a lot of time together and we haven’t exactly even had a name or hello introduction yet, what with the fight that happened.  
  
I was given a new phone with all the numbers I would need to contact any of the hired help and they all have mine too.  
  
Which I get a buzz on to ask if Max will be needing any lunch brought to her room.  
  
Well I guess this gives me an excuse to talk to her. I feel kind of bad for her in a way with how her and her dad obviously have a very strained relationship.  
  
I knock a couple of times on the door and wait.

********

After getting nothing, I knock again and call, “Maxine do you want some food?”  
  
I get no reply from her and I’m wondering if she is just ignoring me. But after the sixth knock, calling to her again and that damn song starting over _again,_ I decide to open the door.  
  
But when I do she is nowhere in the room. I notice another door and go to that to find a bathroom and no Maxine.  
  
“That little shit!” I growl when I realize she has bolted.  
  
I can’t believe she snuck out. Does she not know how dangerous it is for her and why she has people guarding her? People are vying for power and trying to do her and her dad over.  
  
“I’m gonna kick her ass when I find her!”  
  
I think about notifying some of the others but this does not look good on my first day and after some of the things I’ve heard I don’t think I’m going to get another chance.  
  
So, I check the tracker on her person and phone. But after calling it a few times it goes straight to voicemail and no such luck with the tracker as it is saying it’s in this room.  
  
“Damn she’s good. Her dad said they were newly planted on her. But she obviously found it right away.”  
  
I decide to take a snoop around her room because I don’t know a lot about her and don’t really have the first clue where to start looking, it’s not because I’m being nosey.  
  
As I’m searching and not coming up with an awful lot I might add, I notice for the third time the same floorboard creaking. Hmm maybe there is a loose one and she has a stash here. Wouldn’t be the first one to do this.  
  
I kneel down and sure enough the carpet comes away easily when I pull it back and there is a loose floorboard.  
  
I put my hand into the hole and pull out a couple of boxes’ and set them next to me and feel around to see if there is anything else there. Yeah, I can feel a lot of different things down here and pull a few more up. Which include drugs, money, a gun, knife and what looks like a diary.  
  
I think about looking through the diary but I don’t want to violate her privacy more than I already have if I don’t have to, so I settle on the first box.  
  
When I open it I see a few photos of a woman dark brown hair, maybe in her early twenties smiling at the camera with a man next to her and I think that maybe it’s Mr. Caulfield just a lot younger and happier. There are a few more of the woman, Maxine’s mom it must be, they look quite similar really. There ones of her at different ages and a couple of her with Maxine when she was younger and one that looks quite recent. But the woman is now looking almost lost with a distant smile nothing like the previous ones.  
  
There are lots of different things in here memories maybe. I wonder why Maxine hides these in a box under the floorboards and doesn’t keep them all out? I noticed she doesn’t have anything personal around her room, like photos of her or anyone. It’s very impersonal for a younger person’s bedroom, no expression or anything like that.  
  
I close the lid to that one and open the other box. There are all kinds of letters, notes, coordinates, vehicle registrations, receipts, ticket stubs and photos. A few of the photos are of Maxine with a few what look-like strippers and different girls. A lot of the same two girls in particular that she is kissing amongst other things.  
  
Ok, now this is a side I didn’t expect. Not a problem but her dads comment makes a little more sense now about her ways and that.  
  
There are a lot more photos and they’re starting to get a little dirtier, well a lot dirtier, so I place them back and look through some of the receipts instead.  
  
As I’m looking I notice a fair few for a club on the other side of town. I take a couple of photos one of that address and of the other addresses just in case and place everything back where I found it.

“Right, now to find Maxine the little shit and kick her ass when I find her.”


	2. Definitely not the door to Narnia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of forgot about this story but thought I'd get a chapter out for it and maybe another if it gets any reads. There is just a little sex in this chapter especially for me so probably not even worth mentioning and the tiniest bit of blood fetish stuff if you squint. Other than that I hope if you do give it a go you enjoy :)

**-Max-**

I hand the waitress a twenty tip with a little something else that she places in her bra and leans in to whisper in my ear, “You’re too kind Max. If you fancy a little mmm quiet time with your girls, our room is always open for you. We wouldn’t want it to go to waste now, would we? And we do miss you ever so much baby.”

The waitress well one of the owners Desire as she is known here to other customers pulls back and stares into my eyes with a smoldering look before she leans in and places a kiss against my lips and then struts her sweet swaggering ass away.

“Yo, Maxwell dude. How’s tricks girl?”

“Hey JW not bad. How’s your sister?”

He slumps down on the couch opposite me next to Trevor or Trix to us with a halfhearted scowl at me, “Fuck off Max! I know she came to see you.”

“Yeah she definitely came bro, she came everywhere.” I retort and the others start whooping and pushing him.

“Ugh, shit Max I don’t want to know that. She’s my fucking sister!”

“Fucking is right.” I say with a smirk and he rolls his eyes, “Anyhow. Where’s my money you shit? It’s three but if I have to wait any longer it’s going to five-g’s and you are not getting any more product until it’s in my hand and I might get your sister to pay me another visit.”

“Jesus ok Max I got your cash.” He reaches into his jacket, pulls out an envelope and slides it across the table to me.

“Cheers dude I’ll be sure to spend some on Ash.”

“Asshole!” He grumbles as the others laugh.

I place the envelope in my bag as Juliet next to me snorts up a line then says, “Aaahh fuck... Oh yeah! Now that’s some good shit mmm… Now that you ladies have finished discovering whose dick is biggest, Max’s, let’s get our crazy on...”

I notice Ritual the other owner and Desire looking my way and when they see me looking, they both kiss for a few seconds before they beckon me with their fingers and start walking away.

I down my shots then stand up as Kris asks, “Hey Max where you goin’?”

I’m about to answer when Hayden jumps in, “She’s about to snort some beautiful snow out of and off every hole and smooth surface from those two hot waitresses she always sees.”

“Damn I want me a piece of that ass! Mmm it’s so tight. Come on Max hook a brother up. How much they chargin’?” Drew asks.

“Don’t speak about them like hookers dude or I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to you!! Not everyone’s like ya momma.”

“Oh, shit son she got you.” Rag snaps his fingers at him and they all laugh.

I leave them to it and make my way out of the VIP section and upstairs.

The bouncer gives me a nod and opens the door for me then I make my way to the back room. As soon as I’m inside I see Desire laying provocatively on her bed as Ritual sashays up to me, takes my bag off and drops it to the floor.

“Hey baby girl. We hella missed you. It’s been so long Max. Did you not miss us?” She purrs then kisses me.

“Always. I had to ditch the new hired help.” I reply as she pulls back.

“Come on Rach don’t be selfish. I want to play too.”

“Wait your turn Dana! You seem tense Max. Are you tense baby, is it the new babysitter? Let us help—wait! What happened to your cheek?” Rachel asks with concern as she runs her fingers over my cheek softly.

I take her hand in mine and smile, “It’s nothing but the usual. Let’s just have some fun yeah?”

She smirks as she takes both of my hands and guides me to the bed then pushes me down as Dana says, “Do you want us to kill him Max? We would do it for you, we would love to do it for you. No-one should ever touch you, especially him. Let us show him what happens if someone hurts our girl.” She kneels at my head and then leans down to kiss me as Rachel straddles me and starts to undo the buttons on my shirt and trousers.

“Mmm as much as I would love that and you know how much I love to watch you work. You can’t kill family. It’s like bad karma or some shit and his still my dad.”

Rachel opens my shirt then runs her hands up my stomach, “No bad karma for me baby you saw to that and I still got my bae with me...” Her bae in question passes her a lit candle, “We are always going to be hella grateful for that. We want to make him feel pain for everything he’s done to you...” She drips some of the hot wax over my chest making me hiss a little as Dana pins my hands down with hers.

“So, so grateful for that Max, for all you give us... mmm you taste good... I’ve missed that sweetness you have.” Dana says huskily between kissing me.

I groan slightly louder when Rachel pours more wax down my chest but then I’m moaning when she leans in and kisses me hard as Dana moves my right hand under her little checkered skirt and between her legs to her warm wet pussy making me moan louder. She moans loud herself when I start to play with her clit but Rachel gets the jealous head on.

“Hey Dana hella unfair. Let her other hand go and share bitch!”

Dana laughs and continues her grinding but releases my other hand which Rachel immediately takes and places it to her pussy with a moan. She starts grinding and slips her hand past my trousers and underwear going straight to work on me.

We are all moaning now and it always feels so good with these two. They treat me so right every time. We have been doing this for years ever since I met them as little kids, well not this the sex part as such when we were kids. They are my two best friends who I trust completely. They’re a couple but invited me in, took care of me and I would do anything for them and they would do anything for me. I give them what they need and they give me back the same in every aspect of our lives, love, friendship, sex, protection and complete understanding.

I see Dana remove the vile from her necklace, “You want baby girl?”

“Yeah.” I reply with a moan.

She places it to my nose and I take a big sniff of it in. Then she pours it onto my chest for Rachel and herself and they take it in turns to snort and lick it up.

Rachel let’s out a loud shuddery moan with Dana when I enter them at the same time then she crashes her lips into mine and when she slips her tongue into my mouth, she also slips a pill in there too.

I swallow that and growl a little when she thrusts a couple of fingers into me, “Fuck you two are so crazy good.”

“Mmm yeah we hella are for you baby girl.”

“Ahh yeah only for you Max, always.”

Rachel pours some more wax on me then herself and starts to really grind me hard and Dana follows suit...

**-Chloe-**

I finally made it to the club called Rituals Desires after going to a few other places first. I’m getting more and more angry as time goes on chasing around after her and I’m gonna kick her ass in so bad when I find her. I found out that Max is here after I managed to convince one of the bouncers, and when I say convince, I mean I knocked him about a bit and he believed I was working for her dad.

He said she was over in the VIP section but when I got there all I found was a bunch of fucked off their faces people who are probably around my age but no Max. I did manage to gather from them after a very long-winded conversation about my hair and that no I’m not very very cold and no I’m not a giant rotten troll or smurf, I found out there is a room upstairs that she goes. So, that is where I am now making my way to and as I get to the top, I see a bouncer outside a door.

“Who the fuck are you? This area is outta bounds girl. Now turn back before I break your ass.”

“Look Arnie. I’m here for Max. Now stand aside or I’ll put you down.”

He actually laughs at that the fucking punk bitch. But I roll my eyes, “Fine I see how it’s gonna be.”

I don’t give him a chance to reply and just crack him in the ribs winding him, knee him in the gut, then elbow into the back of his head and he slumps to the floor completely out of it.

“I told you I would put you down!”

I step over him and open the door to what I see is like an apartment but no-one inside but I notice another door so I go to that. But when I walk in I kinda wish I hadn’t because it’s like a weird cult drug induced orgy.

I see Maxine look over to me, “Price!”

As the two half naked girls she’s fucking keep going and start saying, “Come on baby girl don’t stop please? This is our time now. Hella missed this. Look at me not your babysitter.”

“Yeah please Max please we’re close again. We need you, ignore her.”

“Miss Price want to, you know, wait outside?” Maxine asks well it’s more of a get lost tone but then she groans with a hiss when the blonde girl pours candle wax over her chest and stomach.

The brown haired one starts to kiss her and I’m sort of frozen in place for a moment because I wasn’t expecting this when I opened the door.

But I shake my head and say with anger, “Maxine you little fucking shit! This is what you tried to run away from me for? Two cheap hookers. Now get the fuck up!”

The blonde one tries to sound pissed off but it comes out in breathy moans when she says, “It’s Max bitch don’t call her Maxine and she’s our baby girl! Now get out and find your own before Desire and I cut you, make you real pretty.”

Then the dark haired one growls at me, “We are no hookers bitch! Ritual’s my girl and Max is ours. So, fuck off and find someone you can pay to watch.” She then takes what looks like a razor blade and makes a cut on Maxine’s well Max’s chest and the blonde one leans down and licks it with a moan and then sucks on the cut.

Ok this is some crazy weird shit but I’m kind of stuck. Fucking move your ass Chloe! Why can I not move or take my eyes off of Max and this messed up scene.

“Price go wait downstairs. I’ll be down soo...” Max starts to say until a man’s voice comes from the doorway to the side of me.

“Well hello Max. Joseph sends his regards.”

I whip my gun out and whirl around the door to the man and see his gun pointed but I manage to knock it aside a bang being heard in the process and press the trigger to mine shooting him smack bang in the middle of his head. He crumples to the floor but I see a couple more behind him who charge me, get a lucky fist to my face and knock my gun from my hand.

I manage to kick one in the nuts but as I’m about to headbutt him a couple of shots go off and they both slump to the floor.

I look over at the other three and see the two girls each holding a gun pointed. I raise my eyebrow thinking how two cheap girls know how to shoot because they were good shots.

I don’t get to question though as they both lower their pieces and turn to Max, “You ok baby?” Ritual asks with a kiss after.

“Yeah I’m fine thanks. I’ll make a call to lurch and he’ll come and clean up. You two ok?”

“No ‘cos you’re going to leave now—" Desire says with an almost pout before she’s interrupted.

A few men rush past me into the room, “Everything alright in here ladies?”

“What do think Tony? Who let them in?” Ritual hisses.

“Louis was on the back-door.”

“Bring him to us and then check the area before getting the boys and send a message to Joseph.”

I shake my head wondering what all this is I mean these two chicks just downed a couple of dudes as if it was normal for them to do but they seem like a couple of tabletop dancers. And they’re swooning and cooing over Max like they are mother hens. What is going on right now?

But I manage to clear my throat and say, “Max we should leave now.”

She looks over to me for a moment then nods before she turns back to the girls, “You two going to be alright?”

“I guess so. You gonna come back soon? It was too long since last-time.”

“I will be back before you know it. And I’ll even bring you those things you like.”

“Mmm hella yes baby girl.” they each kiss her before Ritual continues, “We’ll send the information to you after we have some fun with our new pet and the hit on Joseph’s place.”

When she finishes, I see Desire roll out an assortment of knives and tools with a very excited grin as a man, Louis I guess is shoved into the room.

The man cowers on his knees as he begs, “Please don’t do this, please!!? I was forced to do it I—”

His abruptly stopped when Ritual takes a blade and runs it down his cheek with a really aroused look, “You were going to take our baby girl away. We can’t allow this.” She then kneels in front of him, grips his hair and yanks his head back.

The man whimpers and screams as she carries on her cuts laughing as she does and Desire moves over to him grabs his arms to stop him from struggling, “Hey no fair save me some Rach.”

I am standing here in a bewildered state as these two half naked girls start to torture him. Ritual is in front as Desire holds him from behind and tells her how good she’s doing and looks doing it and they’re really getting off on it, sexually.

But I’m taken from it when Max comes up to me and hands me my gun, “Are you ready then or do you want to watch the show? They are really good. But I warn you they will fuck for hours after.”

I look down at her and her smirking face, “Fuck off! Now move your ass.” And I take my gun.

She laughs at that, “Mmm feisty. But sure, Miss Price, whatever you say.”

I feel myself actually blush at that as she looks over to the two sadists, “Have fun ladies.”

“Mmm yes you know we will and make him pay for trying to hurt you. Love you Max, see you soon.”

“We’re going to make him so hella pretty for you baby girl. Love you lots.”

“Yeah love you’s too.”

She then begins to head out of the room but pauses to take my hand and pull me with her, “I know they’re so hot when they work. But come on I thought you wanted to leave?”

I’m basically dragged away by my hand in a daze, “Y-yeah, yeah uh huh...” And I can still hear them laughing and moaning with the sound of the man’s screams.

Max laughs some more at me as we get to the back exit and she teases, “Wow you never seen a couple of girls get it on before?”

We start walking down the alleyway then onto the street, “Fuck you, you little shit! And of course, I have...” I pull my hand away from hers just now realizing we are still holding hands, “But that wasn’t two girls getting it on. They were getting off on the torture like a couple of vampires or something.”

“Haha you know they would probably like being called vampires especially Rachel. But they wouldn’t enjoy your judging tone.”

“Whatever...” I grumble as I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her at my car, “That was some weird fucked up shit Max!”

She looks almost amused as I open the door for her and she gets in and I go to my side.

She turns to me as I start the engine, “Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s weird or fucked up.”

“Max, she cut you and the other one licked your blood up. That’s weird! Why d’you pay for that kind of shit? But then I guess you must have to because not many normal people would be up for that.”

“Stop saying paying for it like they’re hookers! They are not that whatsoever and they do not go with anyone else. Rachel and Dana are together and have been since they were younger. They’re my best friends.” Max replies with anger.

“Seriously they’re not and they are together together?”

“Why is that so hard for you to believe?”

“Probably because of what I just saw at the strip club and you and them in the bedroom.”

“Rach and Dana are a couple of the nicest girls you could meet. And they have only ever been with each other, well and me. So, stop judging.”

She gets her phone out and starts to type something but I can’t seem to help my mouth, “But they were fucking you! How can they be together with you as well? That’s not a relationship or love that’s just a threesome and an excuse to be with other people.”

Max groans and I see her roll her eyes, “My, aren’t we just full of questions? And considering we don’t even know each other it’s very forward. At least buy me a drink first before asking for my life story.”

“No more drink, drugs or weird sexy stuff for that matter for you, I think you have had enough. You are coming straight home with me where I can keep an eye on you. Maybe lock you in a closet to make sure you stay put.”

She puts her phone back in her bag before she purrs, “I have some handcuffs in my room if you want? They are very durable trust me. I’ll even let you keep the key.”

I blink a few times then shake my head, “Stop that you fucker! I’m not one of those um, your ugh, whatever you are to those two. I’m certainly not your friend either I’m your bodyguard nothing more let’s get that straight right now. I’m not losing my head because you want to fuck about. So, keep your shit to yourself Maxine!”

“Wow you’re no fun. Only trying to have a laugh with you. But I can see how it is Miss Price. No talking, serious and boring, run straight to daddy for your full report of my going’s on. Got it just another yes man.”

We fall silent after that and Max turns away from me as she gets her phone back out. I feel a little bad because she sounded slightly hurt when she was saying that. I internally groan and carry on driving.

As we near the Caulfield residence I hear her let out a small laugh and look to her to ask, “What’s funny?”

She glances from her phone to me then back, “Nothing.”

I sigh and drive down their private road. 

I park up and turn the engine off and go to say something but Max beats me to it, “Thanks for the lift...” She opens her door, “And I’m sorry you got hit but thank you for taking the man out at the club. I really appreciate it and I’m… just thanks.” She gives me a small smile then gets out of the car and heads to the house.

I watch her for a moment as she walks up the front steps and the guards let her through without even a hi or glance when she raises her hand with a wave at them and says something and I see carry on through with her head down now. It makes me wonder whether she has anybody around here to talk to or anything like that. Her dad made it pretty clear to me that she doesn’t have any friends, well that he knows of anyway but I think he likes it that way having her locked away to do her jobs for him. He told me to report all of her activities, meetings and people she associates with. Seems really full on with it too and with the tracking and surveillance shit his got on her, even my job I think it’s more for his benefit than hers. But she seems to be really on the ball with everything that’s going on around her and knows exactly what her dad does. Not surprising really, she’s had it her whole life I bet, to perfect her skills, in a way just like me, probably more so.

I get out of the car, grab my two duffel bags from my boot and make my way to the house. The guards barely do anything this time just a glance and they open the door for me.

As I make my way through the hall I hear, “Please tell me you found something out? I need some good news.” From Max and she sounds quite upset desperate even.

I look up to the top of the staircase and she is standing with her back to me talking on her phone. I don’t know whether to just go up anyway or vacate to a different room but as she starts saying, “I know, I understand. It’s just I miss her… so much and I hate not knowing what happened to mo—” she turned around and started to walk down the stairs but halfway down she looks up and we lock eyes, “Um, I’ll speak to you later.” Then she quickly hangs up her cell.

We just stare at each other for moment and I can see her eyes and they look really teary. I’m wondering what has made her so upset because she wasn’t like this when she left my car and that wasn’t even what, barely five minutes ago.

I go to ask if she is ok but she shifts her eyes to the front door when some voices can be heard and I watch her face start to change to one of anger, then she looks back to me before turning around and heading quite quickly back upstairs. I furrow my brow for all the sudden weirdness and having no clue as to what’s up with her.

With a heavy sigh and thinking what the hell I have got myself into because this family is messed up, I make my way to my room. When I’m in I check the time to see it’s nearly ten pm. It’s not too late and I’m only feeling a little tired, being a new job and with some of the stuff that happened tonight I’m still slightly wired. I am definitely in need of a stiff drink I know that much. Maybe I can catch Max at one point and try to clear the air also. Here’s hoping anyway...


	3. It's the drink, maybe...

- **Chloe-**

Oh my god, I think I’m going to marry that shower. It’s awesome! It is the best I’ve had and this is like my hundredth one in about 3 weeks since I’ve been here.

Nothing much really happened today. I drove Max about to a few of her appointments and meet ups but that was about it. I spent the rest of the day, like the other days, just hanging around in case she had something else to do.

We have spoken to each other but I can feel this reserved nature from her now. She’s careful with what she says to me since that night in the car when I told her what I was to her and nothing more than that. It’s weird because I actually feel bad that we are not talking and she seems sad. But I don’t know if it’s what I said or something else. I will catch an end to a phone call about trying to find someone and for information. But if she clocks me she hangs up and disappears. She does seem lonely too and hasn't gone to see anyone else other than the workers and that was all business no chitchat. I don’t think she really has someone else other than those two sadists she’s with but I don’t think she’s alone by choice.

Once I’m dressed in just some loose shorts and a black vest I decide to go and check out the kitchen to see what’s on the menu and maybe see if there’s a cold beer too.

As I’m making my way to the kitchen, I can hear a couple of voices and one of them is definitely Max. I’m not sure on the other one. Yet it sounds familiar to the voice that was outside the front door that had Max’s anger up. Hmm and also the other week when I was in the back yard I heard someone in the house.

I think about maybe coming back but I hear the other person say, “You’re just like ya mom Maxine. You dress like a bum it’s no-wonder you can’t get a man. I mean your old lady couldn’t keep ya dad satisfied, could she?” What a fucking bitch thing to say I think to myself.

“Please don’t talk about my mom like that you don’t know her and I’m really not in the mood for you right now—"

“Uh uh ah Maxine. Remember what your dad has told you about mouthing off to me! You don’t want him getting mad at you again, do you? You recall last time what he done don’t you?”

“Jessica can you just leave me alone for now. I’ll be better equipped in the morning I’ve had a rough night.” Max replies and she doesn’t sound angry just tired and upset like it’s not the first time she has had to hear this from Jessica her dads’ piece.

I feel really sorry for Max having to put up with that but I’m also feeling so angry that someone would say those things.

“Maxine ya dad has told you to call me mom and I think it’s about time you listened to him. I keep telling him to send you away but he won’t. God knows why he keeps you around. But he will listen in the end.”

“Can you please just leave me alone. And stop calling me Maxine.”

I’ve heard enough and decide to go in before that nasty bitch can say anything else to Max.

“Hey Max. What did you decide on for grub? I’m absolutely starving.”

They both look over to me and the woman, Jessica who looks like one of those trashy desperate housewives asks completely confused, “Who the hell are you?”

I give her a somewhat waved off can’t be bothered with you reply, “I’m Miss Price, MAX’S bodyguard and FRIEND.” I emphasize the Max and friend part.

Then I turn away from her to Max who is looking at me bemused, “Seen any twinkies around here? I’m not a fan of them myself. They always seem to leave this fowl bitter taste in the mouth and the stench is completely overpowering like it’s trying to cover its desperation with shit. But I suppose I could shoot one down if you want me to?” I give her a shit eating grin with a couple of trigger fingers when I finish, then motion with my thumb to the dumb assed bimbo behind me.

She looks at me stone faced for a moment then just bursts out laughing with a really genuine laugh and it’s actually really cute.

I laugh myself and hear the actual Twinkie say, “Those things are so bad for you. You’ll never get a man if you keep eating them. You’re already big enough Maxine.”

Which makes Max and myself laugh more as I say, “Max is more than hot enough!” With our eyes still locked.

“What?” Jessica questions.

I turn to her and answer, “Hmm, oh I said yeah Max has had enough.” Of you, you nasty bitch!

She looks so stupidly confused but laughs and shakes her dumb head as she leaves the kitchen saying, “Yeah she has.”

“What a fucking dumbass!” I say still looking where the idiot left the room.

————————

**-Max-**

When we have calmed down, I say, “Wow that was so good. You’re actually really funny Miss Price.”

“I have my moments.” She replies with a smirk.

“Yes, I’m sure you do.”

Price smiles at me and I smile back but then I’m chuckling when she asks, “So, you got any twinkies? All that talk about them has me craving now.”

I shake my head amused as I go to the cupboard, “I’m sure my dad has a stash of them in every state and country for that matter...” I take out a box and chuck a Twinkie to her, “But here Price these are new and unused.”

She catches it and laughs, “Yeah I bet he does. But this is much more my taste than some cheap used up knockoff.”

She devours it in like a second and I can’t help asking amused, “Are you hungry by any chance?”

“Fucking starvin’”

I hand her another one, “Did you want something to eat, like proper food? I can get you some or chef Andre’ if you want?”

“Actually, yeah that’s what I came in here for until I heard that bitch mouthing off. What’s her problem, why’s she like that?”

I shrug, “I don’t know she has always been like it. I’m used to it now I just had a little bad news today so she is slightly more trying. But um, anyway thanks for what you done and coming in when you did. You didn’t have to but it was really kind of you to do that.”

She shrugs and looks a little embarrassed, “It’s totally cool Max. If I had my way, I would smack the nasty little bitch up and maybe send her to your two vampires.”

I laugh at that, “Yes I’ve been tempted trust me. But she hasn’t really done anything wrong it’s just words and insults to me. I only send them the disgusting scum to have fun with.” She raises her eyebrow at me and I realize what I said, “Well um, anyway two saves now Miss Price I think that calls for a dinner of your choice and a drink to say thank you. Hmm that’s if I’m allowed a drink now. Am I?”

“Ha yeah um, I never apologized so I’m sorry about that. I kind of went all control freak on you, didn’t I?” She rubs the back of neck with a sheepish grin.

“It’s fine. It has actually been a while since someone’s grounded me.” She laughs at that, “and I kind of did do a runner from you and you got a smack in the face for it. So, I’m sorry about that and you saved me from having my head taken off, again thanks.”

“It’s no problem, s’what I’m here for. But the um, I mean your two girls took the other guys down so it wasn’t really all me.”

She seems to get all awkward when she mentions them and I’m wondering why so I ask, “Do you have a I don’t know a problem with them or me being you know gay? I’m not asking it in a nasty way it’s just that you get a little stuttery and weird when you talk about them.”

She gets this almost horrified look as she very quickly tries to assure me, “What? Hell no of course I don’t! I have no problem with anything like that and I certainly wouldn’t want you to think that I did. I mean not just you I meant everyone, you know all the people.”

I can’t help laughing and as she blushes then pushes my shoulder with a grumbled, “Shut it.” Which just makes me laugh more.

She rolls her eyes at me, “Whatever. So, we eatin’ or what?”

“Sure, Miss Price. What do you want then? Takeout or I can place an order with the chef, up to you?”

She thinks for a moment then with a grin replies, “I’m thinking something greasy, really bad for me, dirty and deep-fried.”

“Mmm a woman after my own heart...” I happily say as I get a menu out of one of the draws, “There is this really good southern restaurant that does some awesomely dirty deep-fried goodness with all the guilt food that you can eat. Here.” I hand her the menu.

She takes it with a huge grin, “Sweet. Give me those guilty vibes. I’m in need of the comfort high after today and those shitholes we had to go to.” And she immediately starts to scour the menu.

I chuckle and she looks up with an almost childlike excitement...

After about half an hour and deciding to order around half the menu we have moved into the lounge. We have a few more beers after already having four in the kitchen while debating what we would get to eat.

We are both sitting on the sofa just chatting as we wait for the food to arrive.

“So, you’ve been doing this for nearly ten years now?” I ask.

She nods, “Near enough yeah. After my parents past I got in deep with all the gang and drug shit. I mean the bodyguarding came a little later but I was a natural at it. I was a pusher for a while but the people who I worked for saw how good I was at getting people to pay up and not loosing anyone I had to work with. They started using me for more of the guarding stuff and delicate matters.”

“Did you have any training?”

She snorts at that, “Training?”

“Well yeah because you obviously have a talent from what I can tell with the finding and keeping your people safe and you are a good shot with a gun.”

“Max, you can’t teach someone as natural as me how to do their job. It’s not like there is a henchman night school where at the end you get a qualification that I can present to someone like your dad. Results are what matter in this line of work and mine speak for themselves.” I roll my eyes at her smirk and teasing tone, “The only piece of training if you want to call it that was my first boss taught me the basics with a gun. Other than that, no nothing else. I worked my way up to where I am now with hard work and skill. That’s what your dad noticed and all my other previous employees. If I was to leave a paper trail with training places that would bring me trouble and the heat on my back."

“That makes sense.” I say then take a swig of my beer.

As I think over everything, we have spoken about so far Price clears her throat and begins with a hint of intrigued in tone, “Ok so, I gotta ask, what’s the deal with you and the other two erm, Dana and Rachel I think their real names are?”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to ask that.” I tease.

“You can’t blame me. It’s not the usual set up and threesomes are weird and definitely not for me. I know I wouldn’t be able to do that with someone I was in love with. I would need to know the one I’m with only sees me and no one else. I could never ever share my love with anyone else. But after what I saw, I still have questions.”

“I bet you do.”

She turns fully to me, legs crossed, “So, come on spill. I told you about my parents dying in a shooting and that’s how I got into this line of work.”

“Ok fine. But you still owe me a drink though, don’t forget.”

She waves her beer bottle at me with a smirk, “I think you’ll find I already got you a drink.”

“I meant a brought drink remember, like I said before?”

“I might be willing to buy you a drink. I suppose I can spare a couple of bucks.”

“Oh wow, I feel so special. A whole two bucks I think I’m gonna swoon.” I reply dramatically with my hand to my forehead.

She laughs, “Damn right you should. It’s more than I’d spend on anyone else, trust me.”

“Well I’m honored Miss Price—”

“Yeah you know I’ll treat you so good.” She cuts in with this husky tone and sexy smirk.

“Oh, dear god! Please don’t.” I say with a chuckle as she gives me a pout but then chuckles herself.

“Haha sorry, I think all these beers have gone to my head. But um, give me the deets then? Oh, and call me Chloe. I’ve noticed you keep calling me Miss Price. That shit doesn’t sound right coming from you.”

“Ok then, thank you Chloe. And I guess I can tell you. You’re going to find me there with them more than anywhere else.”

——————————

**-Chloe-**

I don’t quite know what’s coming over me right now, maybe it is the drink I don’t know. But I’m finding myself really wanting to talk to Max and find out about her. I’ve always made a point to not get close to anyone I’m protecting, even anyone I’m not. It’s just a job after all but I can’t help myself and she’s nothing like I expected her to be. She’s just really nice and funny, warm and open with me. Maybe she is just lonely, maybe I am, but maybe I might like really talking to her.

“So, I met them when I was about what six or seven. I was kind of a dorky loner. I know what you’re thinking, no way not you, I mean look at me now.” She gestures to herself and she’s trying to sound like she doesn’t care and it’s a joke but it still sounds self-deprecating.

I take a swig of my beer and look her up and down, “Yeah I’m looking Max, I’m looking at it all.”

She pushes my shoulder, “Chloe, stop that!”

I snicker at her getting embarrassed, “Sorry I’ll stop. It’s the drink... maybe.”

She rolls her eyes but is smiling as she continues her story, “So, anyway they came up to me when I was getting picked on by some kids. They both stood up for me took on the others and brought me under their wing as such. I had seen them around at the park, the other kids would say things behind their backs because they were always holding hands and never apart but they would never say anything to their faces. Rachel and Dana were known even at that young age for fighting back and winning.”

“What, they were together at six or seven?” I ask confused.

“Well more eight and nine age, they’re older than me but yeah they kind of were together probably even before. They didn’t have any other friends either until they asked me to be friends with them. And they weren’t bothered who my dad was, never questioned it because kids talk but they didn’t, they just treated me like a normal person. We didn’t do anything at first it was just kissing really and that happened on Dana’s eleventh birthday. I personally think that Rachel had it planned out because she’s sneaky like that, Dana’s more impulsive.”

“That’s pretty cool. It’s nice you had a couple of good friends they’re hard to come by. So, how did you go from that to how you are now then and how they are with the you know the torture stuff?”

“Haha, I see, you want the sex part, do you?”

“What no, well I mean yeah I’m only human but I want to hear the rest of it too.” I reply with a grin but I really do want to hear the rest she is really interesting and cute to watch.

Max shakes her head amused, “Ok well the next part isn’t exactly a nice part of the story, are you sure?”

“Yeah Max I’m sure.”

“Right, so I knew they both had problems at home and I noticed a few marks on Rachel. I never asked her about them because I didn’t think it was my place to and I knew she would tell me when she was ready.”

“Was her dad like yours with the hitting?” I stupidly blurt out.

Max looks to me a little surprised which I am myself but she answers me anyway, “Um, well yes and no but hers was worse. Rachel would do it to herself but it was more for a release for her to do.”

“Release from what?”

“Her um, dad was abusing her...”

“What like... sexually?”

“Yeah and had been for a long time. He was quite high up in the police so she couldn’t really go to anyone without them laughing her off and her dad finding out.”

“That’s so fucked up! I hope he got what was coming to him though.”

“You could say that. Dana already knew but they told me and I asked do you want me to do something I’ll make him pay but she was too scared. He tried to make her keep away from Dana, he hated queers and fagots as he would say. Her dad was seriously messed up, I mean I was scared of him but I knew he couldn’t touch me because of who my mom and dad were. Yet Rachel didn’t have that. And then one day when she was sixteen, she got home after looking for Dana but she was already there. I remember when they called me, Rachel was out of her mind screaming and ranting I could barely make it out. But I will always remember her crying and the pain when she said he raped her I’m going to kill him she just kept saying it over and over—”

“Her fucking dad raped Dana?”

“Yeah apparently to teach her a lesson and if she goes near her again, he’ll cut pieces off her and make Rachel watch.”

“That is seriously fucked! Tell me you done something?”

“Oh, most definitely. They had been on quite a few jobs with me and I knew what they were into at that point. So, I just asked where she wants to do it and Rachel said her house and as soon as I found him, I took him there. I’ve never seen her so out of her mind before or so happy at the same time while they made him suffer. They basically perfected how to keep someone alive but were able to inflict the most pain. It’s quite an art. I got the guys with my mom’s help because I could trust her and she would understand. I didn’t want my dad involved and have always tried to keep him away from Dana and Rachel. They’re just employees to him. But we got the boys moms ones to clean up all the mess and basically erase him from the records so to speak.”

“I can’t believe it, I mean I do but that is so messed up what he done. But fucking good he suffered before he was finished off.”

We go silent for a moment after that but then something she said earlier makes me wonder so I ask, “So um, what did you mean when you said bringing them the most disgusting scum?”

“Oh, well I guess I’ve told you all that I might as well go all in. I find the lowest of the low, like rapists, pedophiles, sexual abusers, kiddy fiddlers anything of that nature and bring them to Rach and Dana to do what they want to them and I know they’ll make them suffer. It keeps them sated and clears out the fucked-up freaks who do stuff like that. It’s a win win in my books.”

“No way, really?”

“Yeah. I don’t see why people, if you want to call them people, like that deserve to walk around and have a life and do it again when the ones they have done something to have to live with what happened to them for the rest of their lives. No matter what people say you will never truly get over that sort of thing it’s a life sentence of its own.”

“Wow! That is actually really cool. You’re like three deadly superheroes cleaning the streets of those scum bastards and making them safer.” I say excitedly.

Max laughs, “Well I can’t say we’ve ever been called that before I mean murdering drug peddlers remember?”

I wave her off as I put my empty bottle down, “Pfft please Max. I think you taking out those cunts is awesome. And you really helped out your friends also. You’re one of the good ones.”

“I would do anything for them. They have done so much for me, helped me anytime I needed it, protected me for most of my life and always been there for me.”

“I think Max is in loooove.” I tease.

She pushes me with her foot but I catch it and pull her leg making her yelp as she’s yanked down the cushions.

“Chloe, what the hell?” She tries be angry at me but then shrieks loudly with laughter as start to tickle her.

“Haha scream again Max, let’s see how high that pitch can get.”

“O oh MY ggod you, you aSShole stop IT!”

I smirk at her, “Say pretty please and I may consider it?”

She squirms about all breathless giggles and tries to grab my hands, “No I, I’m nOt begging YoU.”

“Aw that’s no fun. I want to hear you beg me Max.”

“Nev, never...” she then grabs the front of my vest and yanks me forward, “I’ve never begged anyone and I’m not starting now.” She pants out with narrowed eyes at me.

I snicker as I’m leaning over her and look down into her now slightly wider eyes. I’m suddenly very aware of the position I’ve put us in as we stare at each other.

We stay like this for a few long moments and I can hear myself breathing a little heavier, heart starting to pound faster. Then I raise my hand and brush some hair out of her face and stroke her cheek. My eyes trail over her face to her lips then end on her eyes again.

“Chloe, what are you doing?” She mumbles.

It breaks me out of the trance like state I was in and shake my head before I quickly sit up, “Sorry. I think all that drink has definitely gone to my head.” I lamely reply.

I scrub my face with my hands as Max sits up, “It’s um, fine...” she starts before that woman Tasha knocks and comes in with a couple of boxes.

“Max your food is here. Will you be eating in the dining room?”

“Yeah, yeah thanks Tasha.”

She quickly gets up and then makes a hasty exit through the door.

I sit for a moment myself just trying to get a grip on my shit, “What the fuck was that Chloe? You idiot!”

I don’t understand what just happened or what I was doing. I’ve never done that before and certainly not with someone I work for. It felt like I was being drawn to her and I couldn’t help myself.

With a frustrated groan at myself I get up and make my way to the dining room.

When I get there, Max is taking the food out. She doesn’t look over to me when I come in and I can feel this awkward atmosphere between us now.

I take a breath and ask, “Can I do anything to help?”

“Just erm sit and eat I guess.”

I look about the huge table and I’m wondering where to actually sit. There are two place mats set out but they are right next to each other, one at the head and the other at the side.

While I’m just standing here like an idiot, I hear Max sigh and say, “Chloe sit.”

I look over to her and she takes a seat at the side and I’m wondering why she isn’t sitting at the head of the table.

“Chloe are you just going to stand there staring?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, right.” I mumble like a dork and amble over to the table.

When I’ve sat down Max passes a couple of the containers to me which I take but I’m feeling so nervous and weird right now.

So, I clear my throat and ask, “Max, are we cool?”

She was putting an onion ring in her mouth as she looked at me confused then quickly chews and swallows.

“Yeah we’re fine, why?”

I don’t feel like I believe her though, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Let’s just forget about whatever happened before ok? It was just a mistake in the heat of the moment.”

I can feel myself frowning at that as I mutter, “I... fine ok.”

We sit here eating in silence after that and I’m really pissed off now but I don’t know why I’m feeling like this. I internally groan with an eye roll and just shove food in my mouth trying to work out why I’m feeling like this.

After not speaking for god knows how long I decide to break the silence, “So erm, Max, what’s your plan for tomorrow? Do I have to make use of my tracking skills again?”

She looks to me with a small smile, “That depends, do you want to make use of them? They are a little lapse.”

“Please Max. I could find you anywhere. You could be living at the bottom of the ocean, with a totally different face and body and I’d still find you.”

She gets this devious smirk, “Care to test this theory out?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t think you have got anything on me. So, how about this, I take off, I won’t say when. It could be tonight tomorrow or a few weeks from now. But I’ll make it easier for you because I think you’ll need it, by giving a form of heads up?”

This could go so badly wrong and probably will but I’m finding myself really wanting to play along with her ‘cos it could also be so fun. I should learn to let loose every once in a while, too.

“I mean we don’t have too if you don’t think you can handle it.” Max teases me while I was in my thoughts.

I narrow my eyes at her but I’m trying not to grin, “Oh you are so on Max! I’m gonna beat you so good.”

She laughs, “Someone’s getting cocky.”

“Oh please. I just know how good I am. No-one has ever been able to get away from me and you will not be my first.”

“Hmm we’ll see Miss Price, we will see. But how about we make it interesting?”

“How so?” I ask intrigued.

“Well first off you are not allowed to go snooping in my private stash and I’ll stay within the city limits.”

I feel my eyes widen at that and rub the back of my neck, “Shit, you know about that?”

“Yes Chloe, I know about that. Next time you snoop remember how everything was before you put it all back.”

“Damn it I thought I did. What um, was different?”

“My photos were in a different order for one. But don’t feel too bad you were the first person to find my hiding place and also find me and notice I was gone.” Max says with a smile.

It makes me feel good hearing that probably more than it should but I smile back, “Thanks and you were the first to get away from me. So, I guess we’re even on that...” then I think of what else she said, “What do you mean notice you were gone?”

She shrugs, “Just you were the first person to notice I had legged it. It’s no big deal I’m used to not getting noticed.”

I frown when she says that but Max clears her throat before she says, “So, anyway, there will obviously be a winner, me—"

“You wish,” I cut in on her thinking she can beat me, “Ok so what’s the winner get?”

“Whatever the other one wants.”

“What, like anything I want?” I quickly ask my mind already scrambling with different ideas of what I can have.

“You want? I’ll think you’ll find it’s going to be what I want. But yes Chloe, absolutely anything you want.” She has this slight huskiness to her tone Now and there’s this glint in her eyes.

I just sit here staring at her until I hear her snicker and it’s obviously at me. So, I shake my head and hold out my hand to her.

“You’re on Miss Caulfield. And you are also going down and going down hard.”

She laughs loudly at that as she shakes my hand, “Well if that’s the case maybe I’ll lose on purpose.”

I sit here feeling all over the place with so many things rushing through my head now and watch her smirk at me as she leans closer and whispers, “Goodnight Chloe. I will be seeing you soon I hope.”

Then she gets up and makes her way out of the room. And I’m left in this stunned state of what was just said. I’m wondering if this bet is a normal bet or we are playing for something more and I’ve agreed to like sex, I don’t actually know what to think.

I kind of get the feeling I might be in over my head but I’m being pulled in, I can’t stop it yet I don’t think I’m trying too.

I can’t actually wait for us to play now I muse to myself as I get a couple of messages on my personal mobile not works.

I take it from my shorts pocket to see an unknown number and open it.

 **UNKNOWN NUMBER:** You should probably get some rest, you’re going to need it!

 **UNKNOWN NUMBER:** Who knows when the game will start Miss Price.

“How the fuck did Max get my number? No-one knows this number it’s new.”

Fuck she really is good and I might have met my match with this one. But I am so gonna give it everything to win and get what I want...  



	4. Let the game begin

**-Max-**

It’s been nearly two weeks now since I challenged Chloe. I know she probably thought it would be the next day but that would’ve made it to easy. I also wanted to keep her guessing as to when it was going to happen.

Chloe and I are getting on so well together and it feels as if she has been part of my life for a lot longer than she has. She is really funny, nothing like at the beginning and she’s started to relax now. It’s so easy with her, talking and hanging out. Once I’ve done all my daily crap, which she does keep her facade up with, but after that we actually chill together. Her guard comes down and she turns into this totally different person. I find myself gazing at her when she talks, eats or even when she’s doing nothing. I feel enamored and intrigued by her and even the simplest of things she does.

With a sigh I step off the tube and make my way out of the subway.

I woke up early this morning to make sure I could get a head start on Chloe. I’ve set up a loud alarm to go off in her room at 06:27. I may have also set up her phone so I can keep an eye on her location. 

I snuck in her room while she was still asleep, nearly getting caught in the process. A floorboard creaked and she bolted upright gun poised in one hand and she looked around. I immediately dropped to the floor and held my breath, hoping she didn’t notice me and so relieved I didn’t get shot. But then I watched her get up and stumble a little in her sleepy state as she grumbled over to the bathroom. I very quickly finished setting up my stuff and bolted out of there with a feeling of excitement. It always feels so good when you have that anticipation of getting caught. But when you escape with no one none the wiser, now that is the sweetest victory and the biggest rush of them all.

Even though I told her to not go snooping in my stuff, I just know she will. I can’t really blame her because she would never find me no matter how much she thinks she could. But anyway, I have put something in my stash spot and also around my room as decoys. Nothing to out there but we will see how much she was taking in since she’s been with me.

I know she will come here to where I’m now about to go in. It’s my main point of call but to stay here would be too easy for her to find me...

“Hey Andy.”

“Morning Max. This is early for you or late, depending if you haven’t actually been home yet.” He says amused.

“I have just come from mine. I thought I would pay my two ladies a visit.”

“Ah well, they vacated to their room a few hours ago. They just wanted a quiet night and left it over to us. But I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you though. They always are.”

“Thanks. I’ll catch you later.”

“Oh max?” He calls before I leave the bar area.

“Yeah?”

“Should we be expecting any blue haired woman turning up to beat on us?”

“Haha oh yeah. Sorry about that, she’s my new guard. A little hotheaded but pretty cool actually. She may turn up at some point but not yet and not as hell bent on cracking some skulls. Well, I don’t think she will be anyway.”

He chuckles. “Let’s hope not. My ribs and head are still feeling it. She’s got one hell of a left hook on her. And Macca is still whining like a girl about getting smacked on.”

“Yeah. I kind of done a runner from her last time.”

“Don’t you always?”

“What can I say, I don’t like to be tied down.”

“Uh huh!” He says skeptically.

“Ok, maybe I do just not like that. But anyway, you should be safe this time, probably, well I can’t really guarantee anything. So, just watch out.”

We both laugh and I turn away as I hear him say, “Jee, thanks Max!”

I head up the stairs to their place and Vin lets me in. I head to the bedroom and see them both sleeping. Dana as usual is pretty much sprawled out over most of the bed and Rachel is tucked under her arm and leg.

It always makes me chuckle because Dana is such a bed hog and smothers you in your sleep. You are lucky if you wake up and don’t suffocate. Her limbs are surprisingly heavy for someone so trim.

I hear Rachel groan as she lifts her head and looks over to me saying, “Who’s the—oh, Max baby. Mmm come on...” she then lifts the blanket up and nudges Dana, “Babe, shove up!”

I go over to them as Dana grunts and shuffles back a little with a mumbled, “Just ano, another hour.”

It makes me laugh as I kick my sneakers off then hop in and Rachel pulls me to her before her arm holds me tight.

I lay my arm over them both as Dana does the same then grips my top, “Mmm little baby sweetness.”

She hums as I stroke her back and Rachel gives me a kiss before she asks, “You ok?”

“Yeah I’m good. I can’t stay long though—"

“Why? We haven’t seen you forever.” She cuts in with a pout in tone.

“I mostly came here to let you know that you may get a visit from miss Price, well Chloe today. And maybe because I can’t stay away.”

“Price?... oh, the babysitter!” She says with a small huff.

Then Dana grumbles, “What’s she coming here for, you running again? I wouldn’t blame you. She so uptight—"

“Hella uptight! Do you want us to sort her out, loosen her up?”

“What no! She’s actually not that bad.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” She mumbles as she snuggles into the crook of my neck.

“Chloe is really cool, I promise. Yes, I agree she seems a little um, uptight but that’s just with work. She took Joseph’s guys down and she may have stepped in when Jessica was giving me a hard time. We’ve been getting on really good ever since.”

Rachel lifts her head back up and gives me a slightly skeptical look, “Really? Your dads new trashy nasty mouthed bitch, who I wouldn’t mind given one of my hella pretty makeovers to!! But you won’t let me.”

It makes me chuckle at her getting all protective and angry, “Yes really.”

“Hmm, well you better tell her to watch her mouth this time. Or she might end up with a few missing pieces.”

“Haha you are so cute when you get protective.”

Rachel hums happily and gives me a kiss as Dana says, “You’re both the cutest.” Then does a big yawn and nuzzles into her and strokes my back.

“But erm, I won’t be here when she comes.” I tell them a little hesitantly.

Dana stills her hand as Rachel gives me a confused look, “What! Then why is she coming here?”

“Well, I’m running but not in the usual way. I bet her she wouldn’t be able to find me.”

“And miss stick up her ass agreed to this?”

“Yeah she did. Like I said, Chloe’s really not that bad. She’s actually quite funny once she relaxes.”

“She doesn’t seem like someone who knows how to relax. So hella straight laced and prudish. I saw the disturbed and judging look she gave us. I bet she goes straight to your asshole dad with everything you do.”

“Yeah, by the book. I don’t trust her.” Dana agrees.

I sigh, “Chloe and I had a really good talk the other night and she really opened up to me. We have been hanging out ever since then too and she’s cool, trust me. And she wasn’t judging, well not really. She just didn’t expect to see that when she came in here. And it was such a lovely thing for her to come in and stop Jessica when she did. No one else has done that before.”

“Only because you won’t let us do it.” Dana grumbles.

“Come on guys. Just, please give her a chance, for me?”

They don’t answer me right away and Rachel just stares at me with her eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“You’re sweet on her, aren’t you?”

My eyes widen at that and my pitch rises a couple of octaves higher, “No I’m not!”

I hear Dana chuckle as Rachel smirks and strokes my cheek, “Ok baby, you’re not.” She then gives me a kiss.

“Whatever! But I’m not.” I grumble.

“Well, even though you’re NOT hella sweet on her.” I frown at her teasing tone, “We will give her a chance—"

“No, I won’—ow!” Dana cuts in before Rachel gives her a kick.

“WE will give her a chance for you. I guess she can’t be all hella bad if she stepped in with step-monster.”

“Yeah, I suppose we won’t cut her up and rip that stick out of her ass, for you.” Dana agrees with a disappointed sigh.

“We can’t promise to not mess with her head though.” She says after a moment.

I chuckle, “Ok you can have a little fun, as long it’s clean and non-violent.”

“Fine, we will be delicate with the judgy princess!”

“Thank you, that’s all I ask. I love you two.”

I snuggle into Rachel as both their arms tighten around me and she kisses my cheek.

“Love you too.” They both say...

**-Chloe-**

“Holy shit!” I get an abrupt awakening from my sleep as this blaring airhorn goes off. I bolt up then onto my feet, heart pounding so fast.

“What the fuck is happening?!” I mutter as I look about the room.

I realize the noise is coming from in here, so I follow the sound to find the source. As I do, I finally see a plug that wasn’t here before and quickly turn it off.

“Ahh thank fuck!” I sigh with relief having stopped that incessantly irritating noise.

When I pull back the dresser to see what was doing it, I notice an alarm-clock, “Hmm, what the?! Haha, oh you are one sneaky little fucker!” I mutter with amusement at Max obviously setting this up and without me noticing either.

I go to pick it up but I hear my phone go off. I make my way to it and pick it up.

 **Unknown number:** I hope you’re ready Hansel?

 **Unknown number:** It’s time to play!

“How many phones has she got? I made a note of her number last time she text me.”

I save this number too and decide to text her saying, ‘ _I’m coming for you Gretel!_ ’ ‘ _Yeah I know fairytales Maxine_.’

“Hmm shit, she must have been in my room last night...” I look down at myself and can feel a slight blush forming because I only have my boy shorts on, “Crap that’s totally embarrassing! But I guess at least I wasn’t completely naked like I usually am.”

I try to shake that off and grab some clothes to wear and get dressed.

When I’m ready I place my gun in its holster and knife on my belt then grab my laptop. 

I turn it on and then start to look over all the stuff I have on her, which is next to nothing and that includes what the dudes at the bar gave me. None of that actually matches up to the stuff online though which is weird. I already know she went to a few private schools in different states but never for long, homeschooled for the majority otherwise. But everything is either locked out or deleted like she wasn’t there. I’ve checked the usual social sites and there isn’t much on them. I bet she has aliases that she uses because her last post on any of them was nearly a year ago.

“Hmm I bet her stash has some clues about what she might call herself.”

With a frustrated groan I close up my laptop because I am still none the wiser to finding anything on her. Which is so irritating, I’ve never been so at a loss for information on someone or unable to hack through shit. It’s like someone has gone through and deleted her and her family’s history and replaced it with a load of bullshit. And there is absolutely nothing on her mom and I do mean nothing, like she never existed.

“Ok so, first point of call her room.”

I know she told me not to go snooping but I have no real clue where to start, well apart from the two bloodsuckers that is. I also don’t like not knowing where she is and not able to get to her in time if something were to happen. 

“I really shouldn’t have agreed to such a dangerous game. But I kind of couldn’t help myself. She’s intriguing, mysterious and like a code that I just have to crack.”

I try the door to her room but it’s locked, “Damn, that shit knew I would come here and snoop. But no lock has ever kept me out before.”

So, I get my little kit from my inner jacket pocket and make fast work of the lock.

I go to turn the handle but pause, “I better not open this and have my hair torched like in Home Alone. I wouldn’t put it past her doing that.” But with a breath and a little hesitantly I open the door slowly.

Well that’s good no blowtorch or any pointy things on the floor I think to myself as I go into her room.

As I look around the first things, I notice is a poster on the wall, a photo on her desk and what looks like a jewelry box, all of which was definitely not here before.

I take a look at the poster first and read, “Base-Urge! Women men and everything in between. Find us underground. Doors open at 23:00… Hmm but no address.”

I take a photo of the poster in case I haven’t found her by that time which won’t happen because I’m too good. I then take a look at the picture next. It seems like a few put together like a collage. One of a street sign called ‘Maple Valley’ another of two girls, I think it’s her sadists in outfits like from Assassins Creed maybe, just a lot skimpier with colors of blacks and reds. Then the last one of a neon sign with ‘The Alchemists Vile’ illuminated in it. I have no clue what any of this means but take a photo because it’s obviously clues for how to find her... hmm or decoys.

I open the jewelry box next but there is only what looks like a blue business card. I take it out and look it over but all that is written on it is, ‘Trixie’s Pleasure House’.

“She better not be making me runaround after her to a load of sex clubs and weird fetish joints.” I mutter because after what I saw with her and the two vampires I really wouldn’t be surprised.

Thinking about this I get the image of Max having sex with those two, not for the first time either. But then the both of them fade away like they always do and now I’m the one on Max fuck—

“Ok you need to derail that train of thought right now! Put it back in the box, lock it away and push it deep down to where you keep your love of embarrassing musicals and wearing dresses.”

With a head shake trying to get that out of my mind, I make sure nothing else here is out of place. But not seeing anything I debate with myself whether I should snoop her stash or not.

“Ugh, who are you trying to fool Chloe? You know you’re gonna do it.”

With a sigh at myself I pull the carpet back and the floorboard up.

“AHH!” I shriek when something squirts me in the face.

I wipe my face on my top and see like a reddish blue color and I can taste blueberries on my lips.

“You little fucking shit! I’m gonna kick your ass so many times when I find you. This was one of my favorite tops.”

As I grumble and think of what I’m going to do with her when I find her, I reach down into the hole.

The only thing that is down here now is a water pistol that was attached to the floorboard and a note with a photocopy, “What the hell?!” The picture is of me from when I was younger just after I got kicked out of school I think, “How the hell did she find this? She’s been checking up on me it seems.”

With confusion I open the note to read, “You just couldn’t help yourself! I knew you would snoop again Miss Price, so I snooped on you too. Am I that intriguing to you that you have to know all my private stuff?! Maybe buy me that drink and I’ll tell you myself.”

I snort a laugh at what I read and the fact she doesn’t want to give up on this idea of me buying her a drink.

“Ok so I have a few bits to go on. I’ll have to look up on some of them to where and who they are first. Ugh, and it looks like I might have to go and see those two because as she said it’s her usual place. That and maybe I can get some info from them too.”

So, with that in mind I first go back to my laptop to search up on these names I’ve found. Then I guess I’ll make a move to Rituals Desires...

*****

After not coming up with much for Trixie or an address for this Base-Urge thing and like a million different things for The Alchemists Vile and the street name, I made my way to the sadists.

As I go through the doors to the club I’m immediately hit by the stench of smoke, sweat, sex and alcohol, even more so than it did the first time. It’s probably because I’m not on a mission like before and adrenaline hasn’t taken over.

As I look around through the crowd of bodies gyrating and grinding to the, I guess ok music, I see one of the dudes I knocked about a little to see where Max was.

He clocks me as I approach, “Ugh, you again!! If you’ve come here to cause more trouble then leave before I decide to not take it so easy on you!”

With a smirk I tease, “Aww did I wound your tiny man pride?! But it’s your lucky day I’m not here to give you a beating, well only if you give me the info, I want that is.”

He narrows his eyes, “Oh you are gonna get—"

“Thank you, Macca, I’ll take it from here.” He gets cut off.

I look to the side and see vampire number one Rachel who turns to me with a smirk, “We’ve been waiting for you Miss Price.” She then nods her head to follow her, “Don’t worry I won’t bite. You’re not my mmm flavor.”

I swallow a little nervously as I follow her through the people and retort, “Yeah well trust me you are definitely not mine!”

“We’ll see.”

“Try it and I’ll knock you on your ass!”

She laughs teasingly, “Ooohh I can see why our Max wants to play with you.”

We go into what looks like a VIP section with a couple of bounces standing on the outer area. There are a couple of barely dressed girls dancing on poles and another on a table in the middle. Then I see vampire number two sitting on a large leather chair, almost like a throne or some shit.

She kind of gives me a glare as Rachel says, “Please sit and make yourself comfortable Miss Price.” Then basically pushes me down on a couch.

I frown at her as she walks over to Dana, sits down on her lap and then they start kissing.

They seem like they’re not going to stop so I clear my throat and ask, “Ok, as fun as this isn’t, I need to find Max. So, where is she?”

It takes a moment but they finally stop and look over to me well Dana is glaring at me again.

She then looks at Rachel to ask, “I know I said I would play nice but can’t I just hurt her a little?”

I narrow my eyes at her, “Just try it! I’d knock you out before you could even move that barely clad ass of yours.”

“Wow you are so—” She starts up with a growl.

But Rachel places her finger to Dana’s lips and says, “Babe we promised to play nice and I promised you a special gift later.” Dana starts to grin and then bites Rachel’s finger who looks to me, “I, like anyone else does hella love a good bitching and a threat to get the juices flowing. But you came here to ask something from us, so I suggest you too play nice or we could show you our not so hospitable side.”

I want to say fuck you bring it! But I bite my tongue and decide to try and at least be less nut you in the face to get what I want.

So, I take a breath and nod, “Fine I’ll play nice. But only because I need to find Max and she shouldn’t have no-one watching her for this long.”

They both look at each other then over to me and start to smirk, “Aw that is hella sweet. It seems like Miss Price is worried about our girl.”

I raise my eyebrow as they both get up and then basically stalk towards me. I’m then flanked on both sides by them, a little too close for my liking.

I start shifting as Dana leans into me and gestures to the girl on the table, “Why don’t you relax a little and let Josie here take care of you? Maybe have a drink, you are so tense.”

The table girl looks to me with a smirk as she raises herself up onto her knees and starts to caress her body.

Then says in a southern accent, “I can show you a real good time sugar, be anything you want me to be.”

“Yeah, not interested in the slightest!” I tell her and look to Dana, “If you think that’s gonna work on me then you need to think again. I’m here for Max and Max alone.”

“I told you she was hella feisty and not for turning.” Rachel says as she takes a lock of my hair and twirls it.

I frown at her and go to tell her to stop it but then Dana starts up, “Everybody has a vice, some fantasy they’ve always wanted to try.” As she plays with my hair too.

I’m beginning to get a little flustered and quite irritated, “Ok ok you two need to quit it! My fantasies are my own and they certainly wouldn’t include you two or any of this.” I gesture to the woman dancing, “Been there done that and I’m not interested in any of it or hookups or some gross threesome.”

Dana snorts a laugh, “You are so uptight. Rachel and I only have eyes for each other and you are not included.”

“What about Max?!” I question with an edge in tone but I’m not sure why.

Rachel turns my head to face hers, “Max is different, she is our baby girl and we...” she starts to say before she goes quiet as her eyes scan over my face which makes me very uncomfortable. 

Then she smirks, “Oh I see—"

“You see what?”

“You are one of those one-woman kind of girls, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am?” I answer defensively.

“Hey now, that’s not a problem. It’s actually hella good to know. I would just hate something, hmm bad to happen to you if you were a player and going to mess with ours.”

I knit my eyebrows together, “What the fuck are you on about?!”

They both laugh in a teasing tone, get up and go to the throne seat and resume their previous positions.

“So, Miss Price what is it you would like to know?” Rachel asks as she passes a drink to Dana who proceeds to dip her finger in the glass and drips the liquid down Rachel’s arm then runs her tongue up it.

Jesus can they not stop for two seconds!? 

I shake my head and reach into my jacket pocket to get my phone out. I flick through the photos for the ones I took and then turn my phone to her.

“What can you tell me about these two pics? I’m sure as you both know Max so well it will be easier to ask you.”

I let her take my phone and she begins to look at the photos.

Then I remember the business card thing I’ve got and get it out, “Oh, I also have this.” I pass it over to them.

Dana stops her fondling on Rachel long enough to glance at the card only to start smirking.

I’m a little confused so ask, “What is it?”

Rachel hands it back to me, “It’s for this little back street whore house—"

“Fucking great!” I huff in irritation.

“Oh, calm yourself ya prude.” Dana teases with kind of sharp intense eyes.

“Hey! I’m no prude.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re not. It’s just a lingerie store with a few added extras. Max buys all of her stuff from there. She loves those skimpy tight fitting sexy little numbers mmm and looks so hot in them too. I’m sure you’ll love ‘em.” Then she proceeds to kiss and bite on Rachel’s neck and run her hand up her thigh.

“Why would I care what kind of underwear Max wears or how she looks in them?” And here I am once again getting on the defensive with an edge to my voice. Why do I keep doing that?

“I have no idea, why would you care?” Rachel questions or rather says it like I already know as she raises her eyebrow and gives me this weird look.

“Look I er, don’t know what you are getting at so could you just tell me where she’ll be?”

Dana snorts a laugh, “It looks like someone is very eager to find our baby girl.”

Rachel strokes her face, “Mmm yeah, it hella does. If only Miss Price had come sooner, she would have found our beautiful girl very cozy in our bed and—"

“Ugh, I don’t need or want to know what you got up too!” I growl slightly, “Thanks for wasting my time.”

Dana groans then kind of hisses, “Wow and there’s that giant unbreakable stick up her judging ass. What the hell does Max see—" But Rachel doesn’t let her carry on what she was saying and stops her with a kiss.

Then she looks to me, “You need to hella lighten up that moody ass of yours. But since we promised Max to be nice to you because she thinks you’re ‘cool’, which is bull she hella li—erm anyway I think she is testing you. Either with us, to whether you listen to her, to see if she can trust you or maybe all of them. But most of this is just crap...” She waves my phone at me before doing something with it then chucks it to me, “My best guess would be that she is sending you on a wild goose chase and she will be at the Basement tonight. It’s where we are going and were meant to go together.”

I look away from her intense stare to my phone and see the name Maxi and a number in my contacts.

“What’s this?”

“Max’s real number. Only Dana and I have it and now you. The ones you had are for everyone else and a burner. She has lots of different sims. Oh, you know she’s tracking you right?”

I raise my eyebrow and quickly check my phone only to growl, “That sneaky little fucker!” And turn anything off that she could track me with.

They both laugh and Rachel says, “Yeah, she really is. Max isn’t as innocently doe eyed as you may think. You best keep your wits about you with her and expect the unexpected.”

“Yeah I’m coming to realize that.” I mutter.

“Don’t feel bad she’s had to do it for most of her life. Her mom and us two taught her hella well.”

At the mention of her mom I can’t help being curious, “What’s up with Max and her dad so angry when they talk or well argue about her mom? He actually hit her because of it. Also, Max hiding mementos of her, where is she?”

“That was not our deal with Max. You have your info. If she wants to tell you or ask for your help then that is different.”

I’m slightly confused but I didn’t really expect an answer, I just couldn’t help but ask.

So, I don’t push it and say, “Well thanks and erm thanks for the info.”

Rachel turns from me to straddle Dana who basically waves me away, “You’ve got your info. So, unless you are gonna loosen up and broaden that narrow-minded horizon of yours but not with us. Then maybe go check out Trixie’s place, show her the card and she might tell you if Max has been there and also give you a little gift.” Then her and Rachel start making out or rather eating each other’s faces and near enough fucking.

Jesus they really don’t stop and actually don’t give a shit either that anyone else is here. With a sigh I turn away from them and go to leave.

But I look back when Rachel says or rather threatens, “Oh and Chloe? If you do anything to hurt or betray our girl in any way then we will kill you! But you won’t get a quick death we’ll make sure it lasts a hella long time.” Then they’re back to eating each other.

I really want to laugh and tell ‘em they don’t stand a chance. But it’s actually quite sweet and good to know how much they obviously care for Max. I also don’t need to worry about them being a mole or payed off by a rival or someone with a grudge.

But I do have to retort something because I’m only human and I really can’t not.

“If I was gonna do something, you two would be dead before you could even say ‘hella’!”

They both actually stop their humping to laugh and Rachel says, “Let’s hope we never have to test your little false theory out.”

“Max is mine now, as in to protect, so that means I would do anything to keep her safe and alive.”

“We hope so Miss Price. Maybe you might be ok after all. But it almost seems a shame I can’t take you on and rip that rod from your straight-laced ass.” Dana says with a smirk, “Calvert and 5th. Tell the doorman at Base-Urge, Life is a game where dreams are played, it will get you in. They’ll take you to an elevator to the lower level. Max will be there at 19:00.” And then they’re back to doing it again.

I smile a little, feeling like I must have at least passed some form of test and they might not be that bad, completely crazy yes but actually alright.

I leave them to it not that it seems they would notice me still being here. It’s unusual to see two people so devoted, so in love with one another. I mean sure they are totally messed up but at least they have each other to be messed up with. Most people search the whole of their lives to find that one person they can share everything with, to completely be themselves and to not have to hide who they are anymore...


	5. Follow the breadcrumbs - Part 1 of 2

**-Max** -

“One sour twist shot and a Blue Breeze. Thanks, Koby.”

I’ve been in Base-Urge for about 15 minutes or so now. I haven’t seen or heard anything from Chloe yet. I’m wondering where she might be because I kept an eye on her location but it must have got switched off. I know she went to see Dana and Rachel and was there for a little while but after that nothing, it went dead.

I sigh and down my shot and look around at all the weird and wonderful people. I do love coming to these places because no one gives a shit and there’s no judgment about you, who you are or what you’re wearing. Everyone usually comes her just to have a good time and let all inhibitions free.

Hmm Dana and Rachel should be here soon. They love these things, probably even more than I do and—

“Hey, do I know you?” I hear a girl interrupt my thoughts.

I look to the side and see a girl, probably in her early twenties with fiery red hair. She is wearing the equivalent to one of those 80’s rock bands outfit, like Whitesnake or something.

“No, I don’t believe you do.” I reply always a little wary of new people I don’t know, especially when I’m on my own.

She seems to think for a moment before smiling and moves slightly closer, “I’m sure I’ve seen you before. Do you come to these things often?”

“Not very often, no. Do you?” I lie because I’m not comfortable on my own and I like to size people up first. I’ve been bitten enough times in the past when I haven’t.

“All the time, yes. I still feel like I’ve seen you before though. What’s your name?”

I ignore the name part and ask instead, “Maybe you went to the one last week at Emmits farm?”

“That’s where I know you from. It was such an awesome night.” She replies with enthusiasm, but I know she’s lying because there was no party there it was in a totally different location.

I go to pick up my drink but she places her hand on mine. I pull away and raise my eyebrow, “I don’t want to be rude but maybe I’ve given you the wrong idea that I’m interested, which I’m not.”

She opens her mouth as I pick up my drink but once again a hand is placed over it, yet it’s a different hand.

I look over and see Chloe, who picks up the glass then stands in front of the girl.

She slides the drink to her and says with a sharp edge, “Maybe this drink is more suited for you!”

I’m a little confused as to what’s going on especially when the girl answers almost scared, “Oh no, that’s not mine and I’ve just remembered I need to be somewhere else.” Then slides it back.

Chloe pushes it to her again though, “You seemed awfully interested in it. So I insist, drink it!”

The girl moves back and goes to make a hasty exit it but Rachel and Dana seem to appear from nowhere, who she bumps into.

“We haven’t missed the fun have we?” Dana asks and gives me a quick kiss.

The girl looks between them as Rachel laughs, “Oh no, I would say it has just hella started. Well for us at least!”

Then Dana picks up the drink, runs her hand through the girl’s hair and gets that look in her eye when she’s about to have fun with Rachel.

“You are going to come with us now my naughty little bitch and we’ll see how much fun we are going to have with you! All depending how you answer our questions.”

They both start to take her away and I hear, “My beautiful girl is going to make you real pretty now.”

“Hella pretty! You shouldn’t have tried to hurt our girl.”

I watch them disappear out the back and I’m left completely bewildered at what all that was about.

“So, it seems I win Max. I told you that you could never get away from me.” I suddenly hear Chloe say.

I shift my eyes to see her smirking in front of me as she leans on the bar, cocky as ever.

And all I can get out is a confused, “Um, what?”

She snickers seemingly very amused at my inability to function, “And here I thought you had it all down and were so on the ball.”

I shake my head and try to get my brain to function and retort lamely, “Yes I am.” Which has her laughing more so I roll my eyes, “Whatever! You didn’t find my ass—"

“Er, I’ll think you’ll find I’m here and I’ve found said ass and also saved it again.” She cuts in with a shit eating grin.

I eye her suspiciously for a moment before it clicks, “Oh I see. The only way you got in here and this early is Dana and Rachel told you.”

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about Caulfield. I am just that good!”

“Very doubtful. Why are you here together then?”

She shrugs and glances to the side, “I got here before you did. Maybe the both of them followed my hot ass here because they missed it.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” She actually gives me a small pout at the comment which is quite cute and I want to smile but manage to hold back, “Oh don’t pout I just know they aren’t interested in anyone else.”

“They’re interested in you.” She blurts out and seems kind of surprised that she did.

I watch her for a moment as she fidgets before I ask, “You are awfully fascinated by them. Are you the one that’s interested in them?”

Her eyes widen cartoonishly so, as does her pitch, “What!? Like no, as in hell no! Why in the world would you think that?”

It makes me laugh, like really laugh and watch her fidget even more.

Once I calm down, I tell her, “Well if you say you’re not I guess you’re not.”

She narrows her eyes at me, “What-the-fuck-ever dude! Anyway, I want my prize now.”

I raise my eyebrow, “Prize, prize for what?”

“For finding you. I won and I want my reward.”

“I suppose you did find me, not without a lot of help though. And you went snooping in my room again.”

“I so didn’t—"

“This.” I run my finger down her top, “says otherwise Miss Price. You are a snoop and very lucky I only set up the water pistol.”

“And you are lucky I’m not kicking your ass for ruining one of my favorite tops. And I saved you from that girl. Now gimme my reward.” And she holds out her hand to me.

I chuckle a little at her childlike quality at getting a prize but I ignore that for a moment and ask, “What was up with her anyway and why the fascination with my drink? I know she was off because she was lying but I don’t get it.”

Chloe gets a more serious tone and face as she answers, “As I said I was already here and then waited for you to get here. I stayed back though because I saw her come in and make a straight be-line for you. I wanted to see what she was up to and that’s when I saw her slip something in your drink. Dana and Rachel had only just got here and I told them to hang back for a moment.”

“Oh...” I start then look to her with a small smile, “Well I guess another thank you is in order then. So, thank you Chloe.”

She shrugs with a bashful smile back, “It’s what I’m here for Max. You don’t need to thank me every time. But maybe we won’t be playing these games anymore.” Then she says in this vulnerable tone, “I don’t like not knowing where you are Max. You’re in my care now and I would hate something to happen to you.”

It makes me feel really weird but I’m not sure why and I feel my smile grow, “Well I’m glad that I am. You make me feel safe.”

She glances at me with that same smile and we just gaze for a moment before both chuckling embarrassed.

She ends it with a push to my shoulder and says, “Ok, enough mushy shit. Pay up!”

I shake my head amused, “I didn’t start it. And also, as you seem to think you won it’s whatever you wanted. So, Miss Price, what is it you want?”

I watch Chloe start to shift a little and she keeps looking to me, then away at nothing in particular I don’t think.

She then shakes her head, “I um, I’m not sure, well I mean I don’t know what I want.” But she seems like she’s lying even though I don’t have a clue about what or why.

So, I have to ask, “Come on, tell me?”

“No! I mean I don’t know.”

I decide to not push her because I get the sense, she’s uncomfortable.

“Ok, but you can’t have anything if I don’t know what you want. So, we will just have to play more games.”

She rolls her eyes, “No we won’t. I’ll just strap you to your bed and um...” she doesn’t finish and goes beet red, even under these lights I can see it.

I just have to try and push it because it’s adorable, “Do you promise? I’ll be real good if you do it.”

Chloe groans, “Stop it! I didn’t even mean it like that.”

“Yes, I’m sure you didn’t. But fine, I’ll leave it for now.”

She eyes me suspiciously for a moment before mumbling, “You better.”

I can’t help a small laugh escaping and she rolls her eyes at me.

After a little longer I sigh, “Well it looks like you owe me two drinks now Chloe—"

“Jesus! You and this drink.”

“What? You did say you would get me one and the one I had just got taken away.”

“Yeah because that bitch slipped something in it. But fine, I’ll get you the frickin’ drink if it’ll shut you up.” She retorts trying for irritated but she just seems amused.

I grin at her and she actually laughs with a push to my shoulder, “Pick ya drink you little shit!”

“Ooohh so feisty, I like it.” I start with a little huskiness in tone and she narrows her eyes but with a blush too, “Ok I’ll have a Blue Breeze. Thank you.”

She raises her eyebrow and questions, “Are you taking the piss?”

“Taking the piss, how?” I ask confused.

“Blue Breeze. Is that even a drink or just another one of your come ons? Ya know ‘cos of my blue hair.” She points to her head as if I haven’t ever realized she has blue hair before.

“Wow! Don’t flatter yourself Price. If I was coming on to you, you’d know.”

She gets embarrassed and sounds almost disappointed as she mumbles, “I wouldn’t put it past you. You’re always hitting on me.”

“Someone seems to think a lot of them self. I haven’t even been flirting with you.”

Chloe frowns and retorts, “You so have. You were just doing it.” Then waves the bartender down.

“I was not. You are just cute when you’re embarrassed so I wanted to push it further.”

“Whatever, you were still flirting!” She then turns from me with a blush and tries the bartender again.

I roll my eyes, “Yes, you keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.” She just shrugs.

As we wait, I ask, “Are you not having a drink?”

“No, I’m on duty. I can’t be getting smashed whilst I’m protecting you, now can I?”

“Sure you can and I don’t need constant monitoring.”

“Your track record says otherwise.”

“Fine, you obviously can’t handle your drink.” I tease as she finally orders my drink.

She looks over to me with a smirk, “Or maybe I know you’ll be hitting on me and trying your luck with me in a compromised state.”

“You wish!” I retort and she laughs as she pays for the drink.

Chloe looks at it and asks, “This some girlie cocktail shit?!”

I go to take it as I reply, “No it’s rum, vodka and jagger.” But then she picks it up and has a sip.

“Um, excuse me! What are you doing?!”

She swallows and pulls a face like she’s sucked on a lemon, then kind of shivers with this weird noise.

“Ugh, Jesus that’s strong! It’s like sweet rocket fuel. I think I could run my car on it.”

I hold out my hand, “Well it is very lucky it’s not for your delicate ass—hey get your own, I’m not drinking Price!” I screech slightly as she takes another rather large sip.

She finally hands it to me and I just look at it for a moment with a frown because there is barely a mouthful left.

I shift my eyes to her and see that cocky smirk she has when she thinks she’s being hilarious.

“Thanks for my non-drink I guess!” I grumble.

She smirks, “Hey, a drinks a drink and I think with your tiny little stomach it’s best to pace you!”

I narrow my eyes at the smirking dork and down the remnants of MY drink then call, “Yo Koby dude? Six shots and six Blue Breeze’s.”

He nods, “Sure Maxster.”

I look at Chloe after who is just staring at me with these kind of wide eyes but also like she’s trying to frown. It’s quite the sight and achievement to do and makes her look adorable.

“You could have said you know him and got the drink sooner. And erm, you planning on getting trashed tonight?”

“You didn’t ask. And I haven’t decided yet so you best be on your game.”

“I’m always on my game.” She grumbles.

I’m about to retort but feel a pair of arms slink round my waist then a pair of lips to my ear, “Mmm hey baby girl. You smell hella good.” I chuckle and turn around to see Rachel smirking with her lusty I’ve had fun and I want you now eyes, “Mmm but I bet you taste even better!” Then she leans in for a hungry kiss...

**-Chloe-**

I feel myself bristle when they both come back and Rachel basically humps Max at the bar.

Oh, and here we go now it’s Dana’s turn, “We took care of the cheap bitch for you sweetness. Mmm you should have seen how pretty our girl made her. You would have loved it.” And then they’re making out like their lives depend on it.

With an internal growl I look to the bartender as he finishes loading up the drinks, “A shot and a beer!” He nods and goes to get said drinks.

I know I shouldn’t drink too much but I feel this is going to be a long night. I don’t even know what my problem is, it’s not like I haven’t looked out for someone like this. Well ok I haven’t because they were all good girls plain and boring and nothing like Max and this situation. She seems like a good girl all vulnerable and cute, which she is and I want to coddle her. Ugh, but then there’s this other side, like a darker edgier side that makes me feel so fucking weird and it’s messing with my head.

I’ve never felt like this with anyone I’ve protected. And I have never wanted to talk and get to know them either. But with Max it feels so different like I need to know who she is and I’m interested in her, want to talk to and be with her. I don’t just want to stand in the background to not be noticed anymore.

The dude places my drinks in front of me and I take hold of the shot and down it with a slight grimace and sharp intake of air.

I go to pay him but he shakes his head, “Already paid for.” And points his thumb over to the side.

I glance at Max who gives me a smile before her attention is turned back to the two vampires.

Ugh, stop it Chloe. What is the matter with me?! I groan internally and turn around to look out at the other people. They are all having the time of their lives. It seems I’m the only one that isn’t, which I’m usually cool with and barely even notice. So why is it now that I all of sudden feel at a loss, like I’m the only one alone and I’m craving to be close to someone or more specifically—

I get knocked from my destructive and very confusing ramblings when Max puts her hand on my arm and says with a smile, “We’re going to sit over in that section.” She points to where she is talking about.

I nod a little bummed that she’s going and I’ll be left to watch like usual, even though I haven’t been electric company since they came back.

“Yeah sure Max. I will be close enough to keep an eye out.” And I give her as close to an it’s cool smile as I can and pick up my beer.

Her smile fades though as she starts to frown, “Are you not going to come with me?” But it sounds more of a what’s the matter, why won’t you come with me tone.

I waver slightly because I know I shouldn’t and I need to be on the look out for any and all threats. But my impulse, my inner self, that little voice inside I lock away that tells me to follow what I’m craving, what I need is crying out to go with her.

And that is what wins out, “Of course I’m coming with you.” Then I watch that frown turn into the brightest of smiles and I feel like I’m blinded by it.

Hmm maybe someone slipped something into my drink when I wasn’t looking. ‘Cos, I feel so weird, floaty and light, like I’m high as she grabs my hand and practically drags me over to the booth, I guess. But I don’t know and I don’t think I actually care at this moment.

She pulls me down next to her and then looks to me with a grin and I can’t help chuckling. She seems to make me feel like I’m young again and I’m not just some rich dudes’ bodyguard. It’s like I’m somebody, a someone to her and she wants to include me in the things she is doing, like a friend almost or maybe... I don’t know.

“So Miss Price, how’s that cast-iron rod up your poor excuse of an ass treating you? I’m surprised you can sit down with how solid it usually is.” Dana hurls over her insult to me, like it would penetrate some issue I’m supposed to have, which I don’t.

“I don’t know ‘Desire’. But you do seem so awfully concerned all the time with my ass. Maybe you see something you like?”

She narrows her eyes at me as Max laughs and even Rachel does, which has Dana glaring at her.

I look to Max with a grin when she says to the other two, “See, I told you she was funny.”

“You been talking me up to your vampire girls Maxine?”

She lets go of my hand that I only really notice now we were still holding to push me, “Don’t get cocky you ass!” But she chuckles when I smirk and she quickly looks to the others.

“I don’t know if I approve of this vampire thing you keep referring to us as.” Rachel says with a smirk as she runs her fingers through Dana’s hair who is kissing along her shoulder and neck.

“Yeah well, you both kind of are, especially you.”

“Especially me, how so?” She asks amused.

“Because of what I saw you do with Max—"

“Do you think about that a lot, us with OUR Max?” She cuts in and Dana stops what she’s doing to look at me with these intense eyes.

I try not to answer too pissed, “No I don’t think about you! Are—"

“But you think about Max, don’t you?” Dana now cuts me off and they both look at me like they can see inside my head.

Max places her hand on mine, “Don’t listen to them Chloe, they’re just teasing you.” She then turns to those two, “and you can both stop it!”

“We’re just having some fun baby girl.” Rachel replies innocently.

“I know your kind of fun. So just leave her alone.”

They both laugh, “It’s all hella good baby. We’ll leave her be, for now.”

I squeeze Max’s hand and smile when she looks to me, “Don’t worry it’s cool. I can handle them.”

She squeezes back before letting go, “I know you can, probably better than most.”

My smile softens and I open my mouth, but I’m beaten to it by Dana muttering rather loudly, “Fucking gross!”

I narrow my eyes at her, “Says you! You can’t even go one second without getting it on together.”

“And that’s your business, how? You’re Max’s bodyguard nothing more!” She retorts with heat.

“It’s not, but it seems to be a problem for you!”

“Ok ok I think this is moving down the wrong road.” Rachel says as she looks between Dana and myself, “We are here to have a hella good time and Max wants to include Chloe with that. So we, as in all of us are going to drink and have said good time, ok?”

I keep my eyes locked with Dana’s for a moment before I nod, “Fine, I can handle that.”

Dana turns her scowl from me to look at Rachel, who caresses her face before taking hold of her hair and giving her a hard kiss.

When they pull apart Dana is looking at her with a dopey grin as she nods, “Mmm yeah, I’ll play nice.”

“Good! Now drink these and we’ll get another round in. Hmm unless Miss Price is too much of a hella square and unable to let loose?” Rachel teases and picks up a shot then downs it.

I narrow my eyes and growl, “You two vamps have nothing on me!” Then down one myself.

They all laugh, even Dana does as she picks up a shot, “You are so on prude!”

I laugh at that and look to Max who is smiling a little bemused at me. So, I bump my shoulder to hers and say, “Come on Maxine, drink. You’re not scared you can’t keep up, are you?”

She gives me a scowl, “Oh you are going down Price!”

I smirk and say with a little huskiness in tone, “We’ll see. I do still have my prize to collect from you.”

I watch as her lips start to curl up into a smile before she’s giggling and giving me a push. I chuckle as she looks away embarrassed which is cute and I end up just watching her...

*****

“Ugh no! I should stay back so I can keep an eye out.” I tell Max as she once again tries to pull me up to dance.

Don’t get me wrong I want nothing more than to go up there and dance with her. But I’m already neglecting my duties by getting drunk and sitting here with her. And part of me is scared I’m getting to close to her as it is and I don’t know if I can keep holding back.

“Come on, leave her Max.” Dana says as she slides her hands round her waist from behind and leans in to kiss her neck, “We need to feel you with us. It’s been too long.”

Max ignores her for a moment to ask me, “Are you sure you won’t come with me?”

I have to look away from her and her sad smile, “I can’t.”

“I... ok. I’m sorry.” I hear her say in the same sad tone that her smile looked.

With a sigh I pick up my drink before I turn back and watch as they all go off. I can’t help an irritated huff as Dana holds Max tight in her arms from the front and Rachel holds her just as tight from behind.

They dance slowly together to the fast-heavy bass music. It’s like they are in their own little bubble just the three of them and nobody else exists.

But then I see Max look over to me like I’m the only one she wants to see. And even with the frustrating bodies that I want to knock out of my field of view, her eyes don’t waver from me or mine from hers.

I down the last of my drink when I have to watch Dana get her head in my way when she puts it to Max’s neck. Then Rachel’s stupid hand slips under her top.

With a growled, “Fuck it!” I slam my glass down on the table, wipe my suddenly sweaty hands on my pants and make my way over to them.

The two vampires don’t notice me, being to engrossed in Max but she does she sees me. She looks at me confused but begins to smile when I smile at her. I don’t say anything, I don’t think I can, I just take her hand from Dana’s shoulder and try to tug her away from them.

This seems to get both of the vamp’s attention as their heads rise and eyes scowl at me.

“What are you doing? You didn’t want to dance with us.” Dana hisses.

“I don’t!” I reply simply but keep my eyes on Max.

“Babe, you have to let her go.” I hear Rachel tell Dana softly, but there is this sadness, this hurt in her tone.

I take a glance at her and she smiles but it seems sad, like I’m not just taking Max away from them to dance. It is almost like she knows what I’m doing and she’s sad because they won’t have Max. And the, ‘you have to let her go’, is more of a we have to let her go she’s not ours anymore.

They both reluctantly drop their arms from Max. I gently pull her with me and further away from them, to our own little area.

When I turn around to look at her, she asks, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah.” I start as I take her arms and wrap them around my neck, “I just want to dance with you.” And I place my hands on her hips.

Max tightens her arms around me as I put my forehead to hers. I look down into her eyes as I slide my hands to the small of her back and bring her into me.

“This can’t mean anything.” I say quietly but I don’t know if I’m saying it to her or to myself.

She smiles but it looks forced as she replies, “I know.” And closes her eyes.

I wrap my arms tight around her and hold her against me, as we barely even move to the music, I can’t really hear playing anymore...


	6. Follow the breadcrumbs - Part 2 of 2

Max and I have been dancing together for I don’t even know how long but I don’t actually care. I feel like it’s just us here, in our own little world. Her sweet dreamy aroma bathing all my senses and sending them into overdrive. I’ve never felt this at ease, this calm before with anyone.

“This feels really nice.” I whisper into her ear, lips brushing against her skin, “Why does this feel so right?”

“You like me.” She states in a whisper, her warm breath washing over my neck.

“But I shouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s dangerous and you’ll get hurt... I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Max pulls back to look up into my eyes and strokes her fingers down the side of my face, “Only if you hurt me.”

We gaze into each other’s eyes and my whole body is screaming at me to kiss her, just one kiss one taste of her. But I know if I do, I won’t be able to ever stop.

So, with every ounce of strength I have left in me I slowly take my arms from around her. I watch as her eyes turn so sad, like the light in them that’s always so bright goes out.

I have to look away from her because it hurts to see.

“We should—"

“Yeah.” She cuts in and starts to walk over to the booth.

With a deep heavy sigh, I make my way over there.

As we get back Rachel and Dana are already there and basically doing it as usual.

I roll my eyes internally as Max turns to me and says, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

I quickly take her hand before she leaves and ask, “Where are you going?”

“To the bathroom.”

“Oh... hey, are we cool?”

She takes her hand away and gives me a smile but it’s almost hollow as she replies, “Yeah Chloe, we’re cool.” And with that she leaves.

I watch her head through the crowd and then disappear around the corner.

What the hell have I got myself into? No feelings Chloe you know this! And you’ve never had a problem with it before so why can’t you deal—

“Are you just going to stand there Chloe? We’re not going to bite!” I hear Rachel’s amused tone interrupt my thoughts.

I look over at them and they’re smirking as Dana slides a drink towards me, “Yeah, come on Price, I thought you could handle yourself. But it seems that grade A rod of yours can’t be bent!”

“Fuck off! I’m not in the mood for you.” I growl as I sit down then pick up a beer.

“Wow can you believe her? She takes our Max away and—"

“She’s not yours! You know that, right?!” I tell her with anger.

“Max will always be ours—"

“She is not a piece of meat! So, don’t speak about her like that.”

“Or what—"

“Babe, calm down.” Rachel cuts in and turns Dana’s head to hers, “What did I tell you before?”

“Gotta let go...”

Rachel smiles and gives her a kiss before saying, “We knew it would come.”

I don’t really know what they’re talking about or maybe I do and don’t want to admit it.

Dana picks up a shot and downs it not taking her eyes off me then threatens, “If you hurt or make her feel pain in anyway, I’ll kill you!”

I have to look away from her because I feel like I’m actually shrinking under her gaze, which is bull. Why do I care what she says or thinks?

We all go silent after that and I’m feeling all over the place right now. I know what I want, to let myself have but I can’t. And they are giving up something that they don’t want to give up. Ugh, this is just messed...

I decide to try and get this third wheeling silent atmosphere gone by asking, “So, what did that girl who slipped something in Max’s drink have planned?”

They stop their groping to look over at me, like they forgot I was here before Rachel answers, “She told us that someone payed her $100 to do it. The girl said she didn’t know who he was just he was well groomed, dark hair and glasses. But she didn’t last very long before the lightweight passed out—"

“Yeah my girl got over excited as she always does and lost it with her because the girl didn’t know much and tried to hurt Max. The girl pissed herself as she passed out. We got our boys to pick her up in the car park out the back exit so we can get more info from her.” Dana tells me.

“I don’t always lose it.” Rachel practically pouts.

Dana laughs, “Yeah you do babe. It’s one of the many reasons I love you so much because it’s hot. Your emotions go into overdrive and you get this red mist glaze over you.”

Rachel rolls her eyes but then smiles as Dana starts to nuzzle her neck.

I roll my eyes myself at them not being able to not touch for two seconds.

“So, Dana’s the calmer one then?” I ask trying to ignore them nearly fucking again.

“Does that surprise you Price?” She asks with a smirk.

I shrug, “Yes and no. You’re really hotheaded but then the way Rachel tortured that dude at your club I guess it makes sense.”

“Oooh he was hella fun and lasted ages.” Rachel starts with excitement and they’re at it again.

Great one Chloe! Don’t bring up them doing their sadistic crap because it obviously gets them going.

I swig on my beer to at least have something to focus on because this is shit and where the hell is Max?

Rachel must have read my mind as they actually stop and she asks, “Where has Max gone?”

“The bathroom. But she has been a little while now. I’ll go check she’s alright.” I tell them glad to get away and make my way to the bathroom.

There is a couple of girls applying makeup in the mirror when I enter. One wearing like a colorful 90’s rave outfit and the other is in like this weird playboy bondage bunny outfit, floppy ears and tail included.

They give me a glance and smirk but I bypass them and walk over to the three stalls.

Two are empty but one is locked, so I knock and ask, “Max, you in there?”

I hear some movements but get no reply so I try again, “Hey Max, is that you?”

“You’re not going to get an answer from them.” One of the mirror girls says.

I look over and ask, “Them?” And think has she fucking hooked up with someone?

The raver girl smirks, “Yeah them! They’ve been in there for a while now getting it on. Quite loudly too.”

My stomach drops when I hear that and feel anger start to bubble up inside and ask with a growl, “Who’s they, what did they look like?”

“Woah! Ok um, one was a tall, longhaired blonde, wearing hot pants and a lacy bra type thing—"

“And the other?”

“Wow erm, I think maybe shorter, black hair like a crew cut wearing a red dress.”

I feel myself completely relax and let out a relieved breath of air.

“Good, that’s good. It’s not her.”

But my relief is short lived though because now I don’t know where she is. So, I turn to the two girls who are staring at me a little nervously.

“Did either of you see a girl, brown hair with a red streak in the front, wearing a loose fitting strappy black top and dark cherry pants?”

They seem to think for a moment before the play-bunny nods, “Oh yeah the little cutie. She came in here and looked upset. We asked if she was ok but she just smiled and said she was fine.”

“Shit! Do you know where she went?” I ask hastily with guilt but I’m also starting to panic that I don’t know where she is.

They both shrug and bunny-girl says, “No sorry. She seems to be popular though—"

“What do mean?” I raise my voice and move in front of them.

Her eyes widen and she steps back against the sink, “Just that you weren’t the only one asking about her. Some dude came in here asking for her or rather demanding it, really sketchy and looked buzzed off his tits.”

“Fuck fuck shit!” I let my anger get the better of me and grab the girls top, “What did you tell him?”

“Nothing, I swear! He was weird as hell and really angry. A little like you are getting now.”

I let her go and take a step back, “Sorry. Look do you know anything else? Where he or she went, what he looked like, a name. Please it’s really important.”

“No, I’m sorry. He was kind of intense and scary and broke this mirror when he punched it. He had short dark brown hair and a lot of tattoos. She left here a few minutes ago and he was in here not seconds after her.”

“Fuck this is bad!” I mutter and make a hasty exit.

I get my phone out and dial Max but the line is dead, “Shit!”

With haste I go to Rachel and Dana, “Hey guys...”

I don’t get any reply as they’re to engrossed in eating each other’s faces. So, I slam my hands on the table and growl, “Will you stop for one second!” They jump and look to me with wide eyes at first before scowling, “It’s Max! She’s gone.”

They both jump up at that, full attention on me as Rachel grabs the front of my top, “Where is she?”

I shove her back, “I don’t know but some guy was looking for her in the girl’s bathroom.”

“Who?” Dana asks.

“Didn’t get a name but he had short dark hair, tats, was really aggressive and high as shit apparently.”

“Damon!!” They both growl in unison.

“Who is Damon?”

“A fucking Psycho who people hire to track someone down and do all the dirty work they don’t want to do.”

“There’s a back exit, right? He couldn’t have got her out the other way.”

“Yeah this way,” Dana replies and we make a quick dart to it.

We run up the stairs and burst through the door into an underground car park.

“All her lines are dead!” Rachel says but keeps calling anyway, “If anything happens...” she chokes a little on the words.

Dana pulls her into a hug, “Shh we’ll find her babe, we’ll find her. I promise.”

I leave them to it and take a look around to see if I can find anything.

“Come on Max come on... leave me something, just one little clue, please...” I mutter as I scan the area.

As I’m looking, I notice a security camera in one of the corners, “Hmm maybe we’ll get lucky and it works. Its...” I trail off when I see a few blobs of blood.

I crouch down to get a closer look and it seems fresh, “Shit! Please be ok Max.” I mumble when I touch it with my finger then rub it against my thumb and know it’s definitely fresh.

“Have you found anything?” Dana asks as she comes up behind me.

I stand up and turn around to see her really teary eyed. I then look behind her and see Rachel basically hugging herself as she stares at the ground near the exit.

“Is that blood?”

“Yeah. But it doesn’t mean anything yet.” I try to reassure her.

“I know but maybe don’t tell Rachel, ok? She won’t take it well. She’s already losing it.”

I nod as I look to where the blood trail goes, “Sure. I saw a security cam over there so we might get something off it, if it works.”

“Let’s hope so. I’ll talk to Koby and see... hey what are you doing?” Dana asks as I wander off when I notice something on a car.

I see a small silver ring on the ground and pick it up. It’s definitely Max’s I remember it was on her left middle-finger. On the car I see as I run my fingers over what has been haphazardly scrawled on it. I get a flutter in my stomach and smile sadly.

“Clever girl Max... hmm Hansel, K, bar#? I think it says. #ain, corn? Gretel. The words have some letters missing or not quite written properly but I think it’s what some are.” I get a twinge in my heart as I try not to think the worst, “I’m coming for you. I promise I’ll find you Max.”

“What have you got?” Dana asks.

“A message from Max.”

“How do you know? It says, is that Hansel?”

I smile as I stand up and answer, “I’m Hansel she’s Gretel.”

“What?!”

“Come on, we’ve gotta follow the breadcrumbs.” I say and go towards the exit.

I pause before going through the door to tell Rachel who looks like a lost and crying puppy, “We have something and we need to see if that camera works or not. Are you up for it?”

She looks at me and wipes her watery eyes, “You’ve found something?”

“It’s a little cryptic but it’s definitely Max. We have to hurry though and I need your help to figure it out. You both know Max and the other guy which I’ll need to help me. Can you do that?”

She nods, “Yeah I can do that. Anything to get her back.”

“Sweet! So, get your girl and let’s do this.”

***

“Ok so, this is about 30 minutes before you went into the lot.” Koby says as we all stand behind him and watch the screen.

After a few minutes I see a black van pull in but I can only see the first three letters of the plate. Then a couple more minutes pass before two men get out. One of them looks like the description the girls in the bathroom gave of the Damon dude and the other is shorter maybe, wearing a suit and lighter colored hair, I think. They look like they’re arguing about something before the suit wearer goes back to the van.

“That’s definitely Damon Merrick and... is that Nathan fucking Prescott?” Dana practically growls as she moves closer and squints at the screen.

As soon as I hear the name Prescott it makes my blood run cold because I’ve been looking into them for years now. After my parents died in a shooting, I started doing some investigating and the Prescott name kept coming up time and time again. They never caught my parent’s killer or killers but I know that they had something to do with it, I just couldn’t ever get the evidence I needed.

“...loe, hey Price, are you ok?”

I look over to see Rachel staring at me with her eyebrow raised.

I shake my head with, “Yeah, I’m good. What else we got?”

She stares for a little longer before turning back to the screen. I look to it myself and try to get my mind off of any of that and focus on finding—

“Max...” I whisper when I see her being roughly shoved out the door by that Damon dude and he’s holding a gun to her, “I’m gonna kill him!”

“Get in line!” Rachel growls.

He grabs her, spins her round and looks like he is shouting something at her as he shoves her back.

I feel like my heart; my whole body is going to explode with this sieving anger that I’ve never felt before as I watch this.

But then I smile a little when Max takes what looks like the biggest, hardest swing with her leg and smacks the guy right in the balls.

“Fuck yeah! That’s my girl.” Dana cheers happily.

The guy falls to his knee with what looks like a scream of pain and I see Max run to the car she wrote the message on.

But then I see that Nathan get out the van and it looks like he shouts something as he points at Damon. I watch Max get back up and look as if she’s going to run, but the two guys are already on her.

Nathan looks about ready to have a meltdown as he shouts and kicks the car. But then Damon shoves Max against the car and slaps her across the face making me growl and my fists clench so hard my palms are most likely bleeding. He then grabs her by the hair and starts to drag her away. She struggles against him though but he shoves her so she stubbles back and then, then he uses the hand his got the gun in and just smashes her right in the face. I feel my stomach churn and my heart stop as she crumbles to the floor like a sack of rocks. Nathan starts pointing at her and he looks as if he’s laughing, which I’ll be doing to him as I kick him to death. Then the fucking soon to be dead when I get my hands on him Damon, grabs her leg and just drags her to the van like she is a bag of trash. He opens the back door, picks her up and chucks her in.

“I’m going to kill him!!! I’m going to skin him alive, cut his balls off and shove ‘em down his throat!! And while he chokes on them, I’m going to cut pieces off him!” I growl so loudly so full of venom and hate as I kick the door putting a hole in it in the process.

I hear Rachel sobbing quietly next to me as Dana pulls her into a hug. She looks to me and asks, “What did you get from the plate?”

“I got the first 3 but couldn’t make out the others. You?”

“Good. I got 3 more so we have that to go on. It’s probably not registered to them, but it’s something and with what was written on the car we will find her.”

She then places her hands on Rachel’s cheeks and rests her forehead to hers, “Do you hear that beautiful? We’re going to find her, we’ll find her and then we are going to make them all pay.”

Rachel nods, “Yeah, make them hella pay.” She looks to me with this almost manic expression, “You think I’m already a vampire? Well you haven’t seen nothing yet. I’m going to gut the pigs, bleed them dry and suck the fucking life out of them. They’ll be nothing left of by the time I’m finished.” And with that she gives me an eerie smile then walks out of the security room.

I stare at the door a little freaked by how she was acting but then hear Dana say, “Mmm you best hurry prude if you want your pound of flesh. My girl doesn’t like to share with others.” Then she leaves as well.

“Hey, I’m gonna go grab a drink. If you’s need anything just let me know...” Koby says and goes to the door, “I really hope you find Max. She’s one of the good ones and such an awesome girl. Those dudes are gonna wish they didn’t touch Max because Rachel and Dana are two scary fuckers.” He then leaves.

I take my phone out my pocket and flick through my photos, well it’s kind of an album of Max and me. Most of which she sent me when she caught me off guard. I stop on the one where Max is leaning over my shoulder and we are pulling a stupid face at the camera or trying too. I remember we were laughing so hard at... I don’t even think it was about anything in particular but we couldn’t stop. It’s something we tend to do, just giggle like a couple of bashful embarrassed little girls.

I smile with such a hollow feeling and this guilt like it’s my fault. It wouldn’t have happened if I wasn’t neglecting my duties. But I don’t want to take back the time we have spent together, getting to know her and letting her know me.

“I’m going to find you Max, I promise I will. And I’m gonna make them all feel so much pain for the hurt they caused you.”

With that I leave the office and catch up to Dana and Rachel so we can get to work on finding Max...


	7. Losing it

Right now, I’m sitting in my car, cigarette in one hand and tapping my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel with the other as I wait for Dana and Rachel.

I haven’t smoked in a long time, years in fact but I’m feeling so stressed and on edge at the moment. I just really needed something to try and calm myself down.

It’s been nearly five days since Max got taken and I’m so angry panicked and a little scared that we haven’t found her yet.

Myself along with Dana and Rachel have been knocking down doors and people to gather all the information we can get. And the cryptic message Max wrote doesn’t seem to make sense and we can’t put the pieces together. But I feel like the answers are staring me right in the face.

“Argh! This is such bullshit.” I growl and stub my cigarette out.

It pisses me off having to wait around for those two to come out. They’re meeting this dude at some random house in the middle of nowhere and I’m trying so hard to not go in there, even though they asked me not too. They said I should keep an eye out for anyone turning up unannounced. Also, the dude is really sketchy and won’t take well to someone new being there.

But as I sit here getting more and more frustrated my phone goes off. I take it from my pocket and see an unavailable number. I’m wondering who the hell this could be but hit the answer button anyway.

There is a moment of silence before I hear a really quiet, “C-Chloe.”

I bolt up in my seat with panic and relief, “Max, Max, is that you? Where are you, are you ok?”

“I... I don’t know....” there’s a brief pause before she says, “I managed to sneak away from where they had...” she pauses again and I can feel my anger building as I hear the panic in her tone, “had me tied up and found an office type thing.”

“Ok Max, I need you to tell me what you’ve seen, heard and what’s around you, any little detail no matter what it is?” I ask her as calmly as I can to keep her from panicking and myself. 

I quickly put my phone on record but also grab a pen and pad from the glovebox so I can write down what she tells me. Just in case the phone messes up or I can’t make something out.

“I’m not sure it’s dark. Um... I think I’m like underground or something like it, because I...” she stops for a moment and I hear some rustling and then a bang.

My heart goes into full on pounding panic mode thinking she’s been caught. But then I hear a quiet, “Sorry, they’re walking about outside the room.”

And I mutter, “Thank fuck!” under my breath.

“I was blindfolded but I remember going down all these steps and lots of turns, like corridors. I couldn’t see any windows when I got out.” I can hear her panic rising as she’s telling me and it’s so hard to listen too, “And it, it feels really weird here like claustrophobic and dark and artificial. But I don’t know because it felt windy before the stairs and smelt like stale beer. I’m sorry, I don’t know Chloe, I don’t know—"

“Hey, hey that’s alright Max, it’s ok. You’re doing great.” I cut in hearing her voice start to crack, “We’re going to find you, I’m going to find you Max. I promise I will.”

“O-ok...”

“Is there anything else? Don’t put yourself in any danger just quietly look around the room you’re in.”

“I don’t see anything...” She says and I can hear rustling, “Oh I heard a name, Keat, Dean or Kean or... something like it. Maybe... maybe it’s Ken. I’m not sure I don’t know, I can’t remember. Ugh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I can’t find anything. There’s nothing here...”

“That’s cool Max—"

“But it’s not, this is all my fault. I’m sorry I left you. I didn’t mean to get assy with—”

“Hey, none of that matters. All I care about is finding you and bringing you back to... to me, ok? I just want you back here with me...” I tell her truthfully as I let my guard down and my feelings out.

She doesn’t say anything at first but when she does it’s, “I miss you Chloe...”

And it makes my heart thud as I smile sadly, “I miss you too Max.”

I hear a small sniffle and now my heart breaks listening to her especially when she says so quietly, “I’m scared Chloe...”

I have to bite back all emotions feeling like I could cry, “I know Max I know. But you’re strong so incredibly strong and I’m coming for you, do you hear me? I’m coming for you.”

“Y-yeah alright. I’m—” She abruptly stops.

Then I hear someone shouting, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S GONE?!! YOU STUPID DUMB SHIT, FIND HER!!”

My panic is now skyrocketing and I hear, “Chloe please hurry.” From Max.

Before I get to say anything, I hear a couple of bangs then, “You little bitch! I’m gonna knock you the fuck out...” and then there’s a couple of loud slap sounds and a yelp whimper then, “We’re gonna really enjoy teaching you a lesson.”

“Get off me you ass—" I hear Max again before another smacking sound but then nothing and I refrain from screaming out down the phone. It would give myself or what Max has been doing.

My heart clenches tight as I grit my teeth feeling these angry tears in my eyes hearing this happen to her. But I can’t do anything to stop it, I can’t help her.

“Fuck fuck fuck!!!” I growl as I hit the dashboard a few times in a complete rage.

I take some deep breaths to try and calm myself down which isn’t really working. So, I take out a cigarette and spark that up.

With a few pulls of this I look at the piece of paper to see what I wrote and as I do, I see the names. It takes me a moment but then I realize that the guy Rachel and Dana are speaking with is called Ken Deacon. It seems too similar to what Max said to be a coincidence and the other two said he has connections to that Prescott asshole.

“I can’t believe it didn’t click when I was on the phone with her. You fucking idiot Chloe!”

With my rage pumped up to boiling point, I check my gun before I get out the car then I make my way over to the house.

I go around the back so I can sneak up and get the jump on him. Checking about to make sure no one else is here. Even though it’s supposed to be just him because he didn’t want to be seen associating with them. But you can never be too sure.

When I try the door, it’s unlocked so I quietly open it and go inside. I listen for a moment and I can only hear three voices, Rachel Dana and I guess the other one is Ken.

I carefully make my way down the hallway and stand outside the room where the voices are coming from. 

With a breath I take my gun out then burst into the room. Dana and Rachel swing around to me with narrowed eyes at first then surprise. But I zero in on the Ken dude and rush him before he can make a move.

I grab hold of him and slam him against the wall. 

He grunts with a, “Uooff!” And wide shocked eyes.

Before he can say anything, I raise the gun to his head and hiss, “Where is she?!!”

“Chloe what are you doing?”

“Stay out of this Rachel!” I growl.

I turn my attention back to him, cock my gun and press it under his chin, “Now where the fuck is she, where’s Max? You piece of shit!”

“I do-don’t I don’t know.”

“Chloe!”

I smack him hard across the face with the back of my hand, “Do not fucking lie to me!” And he splutters with a groan.

“Seriously Chloe what are you—" Dana starts to ask and grabs my arm.

But I point the gun at those two with a growled, “Get the fuck back now!” They step back with narrowed eyes at me as I turn back to him with a punch to his ribs, “He knows where Max is, she said his name, Dean, Kean or Keaton but then Ken.” And nut him in the face.

“What, how?” Dana asks with confusion.

“She told me.” I hiss and knee him in the side making him slump with a groan and coughs.

“When?”

“I’m telling you I—" He starts up then spits a mouthful of blood to the side.

I knee him in the nuts and he slumps forward with a howl of pain. But I slam his head into my knee and he stumbles back to the floor.

I give him a hard kick to the ribs before I jump on top of him, “Where?”

“I don’t—" He starts but I punch him hard in the face.

“Where?”

“I swear—" Two more smacks in the face as he howls and groans in pain, blood trickling from his eye nose and mouth and teeth covered red.

“I will fucking kill you if you don’t tell me!” I growl and smack him a few more times.

Choking and coughing he gurgles and slurs, “T-they’ll ugh, kill me...”

I keep hitting him as I tell him, “Or I will stick you in the boot of my car and torture the shit out of you. Then I’ll kill you!”

I take hold of his arm and snap his first finger back, “WHERE!”

“NOAAHH!!”

Second finger snapped, “TELL ME!”

“ARGH I CA—"

Third and little finger at the same time and growl again, “WHERE IS SHE?!!”

he screams and whimpers, “Please... they’ll—"

I take his wrist and snap it back hearing the crack of bone and he screams out in pain.

“ARRGH!!! P-plea... please...”

With pressure kept on his wrist knowing how bad this will be hurting he whimpers with tears streaming.

“Ok ugh ok... arrr she’s, she’s at or w-was at the hmm the ugh ahh old maize fac—factory barn... outside the city... I ugh I’m not sure where please—"

“You motherfucker! I’ll kill you.” Rachel growls and tries to get some shots in.

I push her back and let my anger loose some more and keep punching him repeatedly in the face, “You lying piece of shit! I’m gonna... hurt you so... much you sack of—"

But I’m grabbed hold of by Dana and then dragged off of him.

“Come on Chloe he’s out of it. We might still need him too.” She says but it almost sounds like she doesn’t believe it.

I growl as I rip myself away from her, “Get the fuck off me!” I pick up my gun and put it back in its holster then tell them, “Keep an eye on him while I bring the car around.”

Not waiting for a reply, I head out to get the car...

Once I’ve parked up in the drive I go to the boot as Dana comes out. We don’t speak but I hand her the rope and grab some cable ties and duct tape, then we head back into the house.

When we get to the room, I see Rachel has a knife to the guys throat and it looks like she’s been cutting him. So, I drop the stuff then quickly grab hold of her and pull her off.

She whirls on me knife drawn, so I pull my gun out and point it at her as she growls, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing bitch?!”

“Stopping you from killing him you idiot!”

She has this manic look in her eyes as she waves the knife about like she’s lost it, “Who the fuck do you think you are?!! You come in here into our lives and take our girl away. Dana’s right, so not happening, you don’t deserve her. And now you think you can stop me from punishing this hella cunt! Fuck you Price!”

I keep my gun trained on her and my composure cool as I tell her, “She’s not yours Rachel, she’s not anybody’s.” She bristles like full on body convulsion at that, “And if you kill him you kill our only lead to that place. Do you understand me? I don’t want to hurt you but I will if I have too. I won’t let you kill my way to get Max back.”

She moves towards me but Dana holds her back, “Babe she’s right. If she’s intending to take him with us. Is that what you’re doing Price?”

“Exactly.” 

Dana places her forehead to Rachel’s and starts saying, “Look at me babe, alright? Just look at me and breathe. Come back to me...”

She really is the calmer of the two in these kinds of situations. Which is weird, I thought Rachel would be because of how she is other times and calms Dana down. But she totally loses all control of everything and turns into some kind of lunatic and Dana’s actually the level head.

I let Dana do her placating calm her down thing and get to work on the unconscious probably nearly dead guy...

I finish binding his legs and hands with the tape, rope and ties. Then I tear some duct tape off and wrap it around his head to cover his mouth and eyes.

“I’m putting him in the boot so if we need more info, he’s at hand. Then once I’ve got Max back, I’m going to beat him to death!”

Once finished I stand up and look to the both of them, “You got a problem with that?”

“No but you’re going to start something with all the others and that isn’t good for—" Dana starts.

But I cut her off with anger, “Do you think I care about your shitty drug business? All I care about is finding Max and making all the fuckers pay who hurt her. If you can’t handle that and that’s worth more to you than her then fuck off now or—"

“Of course she’s worth more to us than that. Don’t you ever question that again! You know nothing about our relationship.” Dana retorts in a rage.

“I know all I need to know. But I thought you supposedly loved her, yet all I hear right now is you bitching about rocking the boat.”

“Because you will start something that is bigger than us and will put Max in so much more danger.”

“Not if I kill all those who know and get her the fuck away from this messed up shit!” I state with a hiss.

They both stare at me with these intense disbelieving eyes. So, I turn away and hook my arms under the dudes and hoist him up a bit.

“Are you just going to stand there and gawk at me or help?”

Dana’s the first to snap out of it and comes over then grabs his legs, “You better know what you’re doing because if she gets hurt by your shit then you’re dead!”

I ignore her threat and hoist the guy up with a small grunt then we start to make our way to the car.

“Babe get Macca to do a very discreet clean up here, with Lurch because we know he’s trustworthy.” Dana says to Rachel as we dump Ken in the boot.

“We’ll go to our place first.” She says to me and I nod.

We jump in the car and then I start it up as Rachel calls Macca. I grab my laptop boot it up then hand it over to Dana before I head out down the road.

“Search for anything on what Ken told us and also take a look at that pad.”

She picks it up and has a look before she asks, “What is this?”

“It’s information from Max. She called me—"

“She called you, when?”

“While you two were in there chatting. She managed to get loose and found a phone in like an office and called me.” I try not to think about how scared she sounded because it makes me feel horrible.

“Why didn’t she call us?” She asks with a tone of hurt as she searches for what we’re looking for.

I shrug, “I don’t know. But does it matter?”

“No, I guess not...” she answers quietly.

“Well, what’s the plan then Chloe?” Rachel asks with frustration and an edge to her tone.

“First we need to find this place.”

“Ok then what?”

“Have you got three maybe four people who you can trust and I mean really trust with everything?”

“Yeah we have a few people. But wouldn’t it be better with more?”

“Good, then call them. And we only want a few good people because the fewer there are, the less likely of leaks and less chance of someone fucking up or being seen.”

“Ok, I’ll call them now.” Rachel says and calls whoever she’s got in mind.

“That sounds good.” Dana agrees then asks, “How was she, Max I mean?”

I take a glance at her then look back to the road. She seems like she’s trying to cover up her pain but I can see she’s really worried.

With a breath I unlock my phone then hand it to her and say quietly, “I recorded the call. You can listen to it but just keep your head in the game and maybe don’t let Rachel hear it. Just click on the tape icon.”

She nods and opens up the recording then listens to it.

I’m trying to keep my mind focused on what I’ve got to do but it’s so hard to not think of Max and blame myself for it. If I had just focused on my duties then none of this would have happened…

Dana slips me my phone then takes a glance at Rachel. I do the same to see her still talking.

“Yeah, don’t let Rach heat that. She won’t take it well and we need her focused not hell bent on blood right now.”

“Yeah sure.”

“I can see why Max called you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you make her feel safe and she trusts you.”

“No, she trusts you so much more, I mean she trusts you too. And she doesn’t like me as much, no what I meant is she feels safer with you.” I blurt out with heat and fumble my words around.

“They’re going to meet us at the usual place.” Rachel says.

Then she starts, “And Max trusts us yes. But it’s different with you and you know she likes you.” She has obviously been listening to what Dana and I have been talking about, “She has never invited someone in before and talked about them the way she has and does with you. After all you managed to take her away from us.”

I groan as I pull up down the road from their place, “I didn’t or haven’t taken her away from you. Stop making it sound like Max and I are together because we’re not!”

“No, because you’re a hella goody goody. But I know you want her; you want to be with Max.”

“Ugh, I do not. It’s a job, Max is nothing more than the job. So, stop making it into something else.” I retort with heat starting to get frustrated but I don’t think it’s her I think it’s more at myself.

“Whatever Chloe. I think you’re full of shit!” Rachel says as she opens the door, “But if Max is nothing more to you than a job. Then stop fucking leading her on. That’s just hella cruel and I won’t have you hurt her.” She then gets out and slams the door shut.

I wince and slump back into my seat but then look to the side when I hear, “You’re a fucking pussy Price!” From Dana and see her looking at me like I’m the biggest lying piece of shit.

“Oh, fuck off! I don’t need your crap now too.”

“No, you need that iron rod ripped out of your by the book ass and beaten over that dumb head of yours.”

“What I need is to focus on the job—"

“Yeah the job being Max who is nothing to you but that.” She then gets out before saying, “Maybe you should think about moving on after this ‘job’. Because Rachel’s right, it’s fucking cruel to have been leading Max on how you have! I’ve seen you with her and heard what you said to her on the recording Chloe.” Then she slams the door shut.

I just sit here for a moment, a tear falling feeling all over the place right now. I know what they’re saying is true and I know I’m lying to myself about how I really feel. But this is why we’re in this situation because I let my feelings override my duties to keep her safe. 

Maybe I shouldn’t have ever taken this job and maybe Dana’s right that I should just leave after this. It would make everything so much easier, not for myself but there wouldn’t be any hurt caused. And I don’t want to hurt Max any more than she already has been because of me. It makes me churn saying that and the thought of leaving Max behind, it actually makes me feel sick.

With a wipe of my tearing eyes and a heavy sigh, I try to get my head out of this thinking and back on the task at hand.

“Right now, Max needs you Chloe. So, focus on that and what has to be done.” I tell myself as I wait for those two to get back...


	8. Into the Abyss - Part 1

After Rachel called up her contacts, we went to her and Dana’s place before heading out to meet up with four others, well and Macca who will be our driver.

There’s these two very geeky tech nerds Warren and Steph, whose basement we are in right now. I was wondering what the hell they were here for but they actually pinpointed the exact location we were looking for. They put together from the stuff, in the boot Ken, gave us and the cryptic message Max left on the car and her phone call, they figured it all out. But not only that they pulled up the entire schematics of the rather large underground facility. And also used some tech to scout out the place for guards above and below ground. They can also hack some of the systems to give us an advantage and have some cool tech for us to use. Which is really awesome so I’m glad they’re here.

One of the others is a girl named Kate Marsh who looks like she should be in a convent. But Rachel assured me that she may seem like the most unassuming timid little girl yet she is so ‘hella’ far from it. Like some stealthy assassin who is Frank’s second arm as Rachel said. I just nodded along because we’ll see and also, I just want to get on with this.

And that brings me onto the last one Frank Bowers who looks the part of the muscle. All moody rough and scowling with tats scars and intensely intimidating, if that sort of thing scares you. He doesn’t really talk much just kind of glares and grunts at you. I’m not bothered though as long as he does his job then he can grunt all he wants.

“Ok Warren, what have you got?” Dana asks as we all stand gathered around a table in the basement.

He leaves his laptop and comes over, “So, there is three ways into this place. The first is the main entrance here that Max described with the stairs.” He points to the map layout he printed off.

“The second one is the old sewer tunnel that leads into this part of the facility.” He then circles that, “It is from what Steph and I can decipher a large cool processing room for the chemical cooking. Gas and electricity are pumped at a high volume here and will make the best usage of the sewer for waste and clean up. The third is out here in the field. It’s an old hatch that leads through the vents to a set of rooms.” He circles around the start and then to where it leads too, “It’s the ventilation system to this area. Very tight and you could get trapped if you’re found in the vent. There are a few concentrated around this area too, so you need to be able to stand and fight until the others can draw them away from you. But It’s more than likely where Max is being held because of where she phoned from and said it was like an office—"

“Dana and I are going in this way then.” Rachel cuts in before I can get there and it kind of annoys me.

“Well I’m knocking down the front door. I’m not getting stuck in some sardine can to get pop shot at.” Frank grunts his opinion.

“And I’m going in this way too.” Kate says.

Which has Frank laughing teasingly, “You girl. I don’t think so! I’m not getting shot having to look after you again.”

I watch Kate smirk with a shrug, “I know you don’t like me the little girl showing you up.” then out of nowhere, in a blink of the eye, she throws a knife that lands literally millimeters from Franks face into the wooden support beam he is leaning against.

“Woah!” I say in awe.

Franks eyes are huge as he stands there unmoving, arms still crossed and joint hanging from his lips.

“But it’s happening just like always, you grouchy old mutt.”

Rachel and Dana start snickering, “Every time you have to try your luck with miss Marsh Frank. One day she’s gonna hella miss missing you on purpose.”

Frank clears his throat and grumbles, “Whatever, just don’t get in my way Marsh.” But there is a smirk playing on his lips.

Warren then says, “Good stealthy and muscle is a great combo. So now whoever goes the ventilation route is going in alone, as it’s a single file tight squeeze. And everybody else will be the distraction for them. But if they get heard or caught then they’re trapped in this situation.”

Dana and Rachel look at each other and I can see the conflict between them about having to leave the other.

So, I say, “I’ll do it—"

“No, it should be one of us.” Dana tells me and Rachel nods in agreement.

“Why should it? The other ways will do better with two people taking out all the guards while one sneaks in. And I work better on my own.”

They both stare at me with intense eyes and I can almost hear their brains working through all the retorts.

But eventually Dana nods, “Ok Chloe... just bring her back.” And Rachel glares at her for it.

I nod in acknowledgement and for what else she is really saying without actually saying the words.

“Excellent. So, if that’s all sorted let’s get on with the really cool stuff.” That Steph girl says with a buttload of excitement.

“Hey, my stuff was really cool!” The Warren dude says practically pouting.

“Yeah sure it was Mr. no fun Graham. Now if you would all care to follow me to my door of many wonders.”

She waves us all over to this large metal locker, then looks at us with this big grin before opening up the doors.

“Tell me this isn’t so much more fun than listening to the dull dud teacher over there and his presentation?” Steph asks with a delirious grin as she brandishes what looks like a Benelli M3. Which looks funny because it’s nearly bigger than her.

I feel my eyes widen as I look inside locker and see it full of all these; guns knives grenades, gizmos gadgets and Jesus even an RPG! To name just a few things.

“Yeah sorry Warren but Steph has got you beat on this one.” I say as I pick up a Colt 45 then a really sweet desert eagle.

“Nice choice!” Steph says to me.

As Frank says to Warren, “Yeah nerd! Stuff the board meeting and give me some candy.” And he picks up a sawn-off shotgun with big excited eyes.

“Whatever! I helped get them too. And also, if you don’t have a plan you won’t know what you are going to come up against.” He grumbles.

I chuckle as they all ignore him and we continue to peruse the goodies on offer. Which is so much awesome stuff...

***Max***

“Your dad thinks he’s so clever taking over all territory and business. He is not the first to try it but they all end up the same way. You don’t mess with us and get away with it.” 

Nathan the deranged Prescott rants at me like he has been for the last, I don’t even know how many hours or days now.

He either rambles about my dad or his and half the time I don’t know what he is talking about. I don’t think he does either. He loses it as well sometimes and gets violent which I can kind of handle but it’s the psychotic look in his eyes that scares me a little. I don’t know what he might do to me. Then he likes to bring in his little goons or that tattooed one to laugh and knock me about.

But there is this other weirdo that comes in and just watches me for ages with this creepy smirk. His eyes are so cold and dark too. It’s not like Nathan and his mental rants and I think he is actually scared of him. This guy actually terrifies me, makes my skin crawl and feel physically sick as he sits in his chair a couple of feet from me. He has only ever said three things to me, ‘I’ve been waiting for you’, ‘You’re just how she was’ and ‘I want to touch that innocence still inside.’ Which freaks me the hell out. And it’s not like I can get away now being handcuffed and chained to the thick pipe I am. Even if I try to look away from him, he turns my head back to his. Then he stays there hand still on my face so close to me that I can feel and smell his hot whiskey imbued breath invade me. I actually wish for the crazy freak that is getting himself more and more angry as he rambles at me now.

“Let’s see how he takes to having his precious little girl taken away.”

“My dad won’t give a shit. You’d be better off taking his favorite shoes away than me.” I mumble.

But then I get swift slap across the face for the comment which has my eyes watering.

“Don’t fucking backchat me bitch!”

I really want to retort back but I don’t want another smack, so I keep quiet.

“You need to keep that mouth closed unless I tell you to open it! You dumb bitches are all the same, you never listen and have no idea what it means to be in charge and control shit.” He starts to get louder as he stalks around the room arms flailing and looks like he’s losing it.

Then he crouches down and grabs my hair, “If I had my way, I would just send him pieces of you.” He takes out a knife and holds the blade to my cheek, “Maybe I should just take a little something now. Hmm but my father’s second has plans for you and I’ll get to have my way wi—"

“Sir we have a small problem that needs your attention.” One of his goons come in and interrupts him, which has me sighing internally with relief.

Nathan whirls on him, “What the fuck is it now? Can’t you dumb shits do anything without me?!”

The other guy recoils slightly, “Some of the systems have gone offline. And we can’t reach the second squad up top.”

“You lot are the biggest bunch of useless fucks ever! I think I’m going to do some in-house cleaning, starting with you if you don’t pull this lot in-line.”

“I’ll be back with you soon Maxine.” And with that they both leave and I hear the door locked behind them.

I let out a few big shuddery breaths and feel my eyes welling up. I’m so scared that at any moment it could be my last or even worse what else they have in store for me.

My tears inevitably fall as is the way every time when I’m left on my own. I try to hold all of that back while they are in here with me so as to not show fear and what is affecting me most. That is what Rachel and Dana always told me and something they like to take advantage of when they torture someone. It’s because of them I was able to get out of my restraints and pick the lock from what they’ve taught me.

It makes me smile sadly thinking of them and hoping they are ok. I’ve just got to hope they along with Chloe will find out where I am.

It always hurts to think about Chloe but brings a happiness and warmth to me as well. Especially when I focus on our last conversation. She sounded so sincere and determined when she said she would find me that she was coming for me. I totally believe her I just hope it’s sooner rather than later…

***

I’ve been waiting for who knows to come back in here and trying to focus on better things than this place. There seems to be a lot of commotion going on outside too, I’m not sure what though. But I’m knocked from my thoughts when I hear the door unlock and then someone comes in.

It’s someone I don’t know and hasn’t been in here before. A woman with blonde hair in the style of a pixie cut, skinny, tall and well dressed.

She quietly closes the door behind her then just looks at me for a moment. Jesus, what is with this lot and the creepy staring at me?

With an internal groan I look away from her.

But then I hear her ask, “You’re Maxine, right?”

It takes me a moment but I look back to her and nod hesitantly.

“How are you, have you had a drink or eaten?” She then asks.

I’m kind of confused when she does and retort, “Oh yes I had a lovely three course meal not an hour ago.” Which I regret as she narrows her eyes at me. But it was a weirdly stupid thing to ask because of course I haven’t and do I look ok?!

I look away with a mumbled, “Sorry.”

She sighs, “Here, I have some water and a sandwich for you.” Then she comes over to me, “You should have them before they come back.”

With a questioning look at her I ask with sarcasm that I can’t keep back, “How do you suppose I do this?” And I rattle against my restraints, as much as I can anyway with my arms cuffed up high.

“If you’re going to be like that then you can just forget it.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be like that. But you’ve got to admit that asking someone who is tied up and held prisoner if they have eaten and to then eat before the others come back, is a little stupid.”

She gives me an incredulous look but then a small smirk starts to form.

“You’ve got a smart mouth on you for someone in this position. I would have taped that mouth up first of all.”

“Yes well, this lot don’t seem too smart.” I retort and she snorts at that.

“You can say that again. I think they are all sharing one brain between them.”

I smile a little when she says that with a small laugh.

I’m still slightly wary though if this is some trick to lull me into a sense of trust or something, because no one has been nice to me yet. But I think I have to try and take advantage of this if I can.

“You haven’t been in here before. Do they know you’re here?” I ask carefully.

“No and that’s how it will stay! I’m only here today because Nathan said he needed me. That’s what we do, we help each other.”

“Oh, you’re with Nathan.” I kind of deflate knowing that because if she’s with him I doubt she’ll betray him for me.

“Yes, I keep him in check and heard he had someone new here.”

“Well great job you’re doing I must say!” I grumble because he is not right in the head.

She crosses her arms hip cocked, “I haven’t seen him in a little while so I didn’t know how he has been. He can be complicated yes, but he’s a really good person deep down.”

“Yeah, if you say so.” I mutter, really wanting to say he’s a fucking head case with serious daddy issues and needs more than a friend or whatever you are to him.

“I do say so. He has to do some things, things I don’t always agree with but when his dad tells him to do something, he does it.”

“And you just enable it and turn a blind eye to the freakish shit he does?”

“No I don’t, I try to steer him in the opposite direction—"

“Then tell him to let me go or better yet you help me out of here, please?”

She shakes her head, “I can’t do that.”

“Why, because you’re scared of him?”

“No not him, his dad and Mr.— I mean the other one. I’m not the only one that will get hurt.”

I think for a moment before I realize who she is talking about, “You mean the freak with the glasses, right?”

She nods with a sigh, “Yes. There is something seriously wrong with him. He scares me shitless and I’ve heard Nathan talk about the things he does. He’s even scared of him.”

“If you know this then please help me?” I start to beg.

“No, I can’t do that.”

“Please? Just undo my locks and I’ll do the rest. Nathans freaking out mental state I can handle but I don’t want to be left with that other guy. The way he looks at me is so wrong and I don’t want to think about what he will do to me.”

She seems like she’s wavering but then there is a loud bang and some voices can be heard. Then there is a couple more bangs which make her jump.

She looks back to me with panic and starts to back up, “I’m sorry but I can’t help you—"

“Please don’t leave me?” I beg as my own panic kicks in.

“I shouldn’t have come here; I have to go.”

“Then fuck off and take your shitty guilt food with you!” I growl as my anger gets the better of me, “You may only be a bystander who watches but it makes you just the same as them if not worse by doing nothing.” I then look away.

She doesn’t say anything and then I hear the door shut.

I can’t help growling with frustration and feel as stupid tears start to form in my eyes...

***Chloe***

Once we gathered all the equipment we needed and went over the plan a couple more times, we made our way out to the facility.

There was one team of six guys in the field all spread out. So, we coordinated our attacks and silently made quick work of them.

After that we all split off into groups and we then made our way to the designated positions.

I’m already making my way through the ventilation system right now. It’s a little tight and I’m careful to not make any noise.

Steph gave us each an earpiece so we could keep in contact. Which I kind of want to get rid of as I have to hear Dana and Rachel squealing as they walk through the sewer and Frank and Kate bickering. It is kind of funny though hearing when Rachel shrieks, ‘Ahhh that’s hella gross! Ew ew ew! What the hell is that?’ about a rat or something touching her and she must jump up on Dana because she groans and grumbles, ‘Oh my god stop pushing me in the sewage and no I’m not giving you a piggyback’. Then Frank and Kate arguing about who is the best and most proficient killer, and Kate teasing Frank on how many times she has saved his grumpy butt.

I get to the position I memorized from Warren’s detailed map and whisper, “Ok, I’m ready when you are.”

Frank basically grunts and Kate says, “We’re in position. Charges set.”

“Ready.” Dana says and Rachel adds, “You better bring her back Chloe!”

I roll my eyes with an internal groan. I don’t know how many times she has said this to me now. All the way here she was doing it and glaring at me the whole time.

“Alright guys, shutdown in 3... 2... and we’re a go.” Warren says and I hear a couple of explosions and the lights all go out.

I hear some shouting and then I can see some torch lights through the metal slats and people scurrying about.

My adrenaline starts to really kick in as I wait for an opportunity to jump down.

I can hear Dana and Rachel exchanging how hot the other looked either blowing someone’s brains out or slitting a throat. With laughs and also sexual moans of excitement. Really weird and distracting hearing people do this as I try to focus on my task. Frank and Kate aren’t too bad it’s more just numbers as they shout over to the other how many they’ve killed. Also a few teases from Kate about how she just saved Frank’s ass again.

I’m taken from them when a couple of guys stand under where I am and one says, “You stay here while I take Rob and help out in sector 2. You’ve got three in the west covering.”

Hmm, good I think to myself as he heads off and I watch the other guy for a moment. I want to see if anyone else walks down here and also his pattern first rather than jump out blind.

After watching him a little longer, I very slowly lift the hatch and wait for him to turn his back to me and walk forward.

I quietly jump down knife drawn and sneak up behind him. Before he can turn around, I grab his head back and put my knife to his throat.

“No no plea—" He starts to plead but I just slice the blade across his throat.

He splutters as he turns to me pawing at his neck with wide scared eyes. I wipe my blade on his jacket before I place my boot to his chest and push him to the ground.

I put my knife back on my belt, then take my gun out. I leave him choking on his own blood and head down the corridor...

***

Hmm they must have got the emergency backup generators going because there are some lights flickering on and off.

I take a peek out of the door from the room I just checked for Max to see if the coast is clear. Seeing nothing I enter the hallway and start to head to the next one. But I notice a little too late someone come around the corner I’m about too. They clock me in the side of the head with a hard punch that makes my ear ring.

“Mother fucker!” I growl.

I’m quick to recover though and manage to block the next shot they take and get a punch to their ribs.

He groans but shoulder rams into my stomach and knocks me back against the wall. I let out a deep grunt of air feeling a little winded but get a couple of hard elbows to his back.

I shove him to the side and he stumbles but he is quick to right himself. We lock eyes and we both know only one of us is walking away from this.

Everything almost goes silent and still in this moment as I watch him carefully. He edges closer to me then he makes a quick move with a left hook. I’m able to jump back though and see his leg out. So, I stomp as hard as I can to the side of his knee feeling it snap and buckle from the force.

He howls in agony but I’m quick to muffle it by wrapping one arm around his throat and latch onto my other in a choke hold. I pull him down to the ground with me, wrap my legs tight around him and squeeze hard with my limbs. He claws and grabs at my arms struggling to free himself and to breathe.

I can feel him start to slow all movements until he goes completely limp against me. After another few seconds to make sure he’s dead I loosen my hold then roll him off me.

With a couple of deep breaths, I get up to my feet and check in with the others.

“Hey, how are we all going?” There’s no reply so I try a couple more times, but there is still nothing and I can’t hear any of them either.

“Fuck!” I mutter when I take the ear piece out. I can see a small crack and realize it must have broken from the fight I just had.

So, I discard it and carry on with what my only priority is. And that’s to find Max...

***

As I check another room for Max and find nothing and took down a few more people, I hear a couple of voices from around the corner.

“This is such bullshit being made to babysit!” One guy says.

As another agrees, “I know. But we don’t want to piss off that freak.”

“Yeah, Nathan’s bad enough but that other guy, ugh he even gives me the creeps.”

“What do you think he wants with her?”

I’m sure they must be talking about Max, which has my heart beat a little faster that I might have found her. But I also feel my anger and adrenaline spike.

I take a careful peek around the corner to see how many there are and it’s just two. Two guys I could take if they don’t see me before they get a shot off. Ah but then I remember the flash bang I got from Steph.

So, I pull the pin and take a breath before quickly lean out and throw it down the hallway then move back behind the wall.

“What was—"

“LOOK OUT!”

They shout as the bang goes off and I wait a second before I charge around the corner, gun drawn. I line my shots up and take them down with two bullets before they even know what’s happened.

They lay motionless on the ground, but as I stand at their bodies the door opens, they were standing guard outside of.

It’s a woman with blonde hair and neatly dressed. She looks at them then to me and her eyes go wide in fear.

She starts to raise her hands as I narrow my eyes and then lunge at her. I smash her back into the door and she lets out a loud groan.

I get my knife out and slam it into the door next to her head making her yelp as I growl, “Where the fuck is Max, is she in there?”

She doesn’t say anything just continues to stare at me with her stupid huge eyes and gaping mouth.

With another growl I punch her in the face then try the door. It opens so I grab hold of her then basically throw her inside and she stumbles to the ground.

She groans as I stalk towards her then jump on her, grab her top and smack her in the face.

But as I go to do another one, I hear this groggy and quiet, “Chloe?” Which makes me completely relent what I’m doing.

I look over to the corner and feel my heart clench and my gut churn. There chained up to a pipe is Max.

My eyes well up as she says, “C-Chloe I, is that...” She doesn’t finish because she kind of choked on the words.

I jump up, give the girl a kick in the gut, then rush over to Max and kneel down in front of her.

“Oh Max.” I whisper and raise my hand to move some hair out of her face, feeling my lip tremble.

I can see her face all bruised and covered with blood and cuts. It makes me feel sick at the pain she’s been put through.

She smiles so happy though as a couple of tears fall from her eyes, “You came. I knew you’d come; I just knew it.”

“Of course, I came, we all did. I told you I would come for you, bring you back...” I start and hear my voice constrict in my throat.

But as I place my hand on her cheek she winces and I quickly pull back, “Shit I’m sorry… Fuck Max, I’m so sorry I took so long. I’m—"

“No don’t. You’re here and that’s all I care about.”

It makes me smile sadly at her saying this, but then I hear a noise behind me and remember where we are.

I take my gun out and quickly turn around and that’s when I see the girl from before.

“Don’t even think about going anywhere bitch, or I’ll blow your fucking head off right now!!”

She stops in her tracks and turns to me with these narrowed eyes and arms crossed, but I can see she’s scared.

“Close the door!” I demand and she does then I ask, “You got a key?”

“No, I don’t.” She mutters as she looks away.

I turn back to Max and I can see her deflate at that but I smile, “Hey, no lock can stop me. Remember your room?” She begins to smile as I get my kit out, “I know I can’t go anywhere without my tools when you’re concerned.”

I’m trying so hard to keep strong, my humor up to relax her and show her that everything is going to be ok. It’s so hard though seeing her like this and to not just breakdown. But I have to get her mind focused on better things than here.

Making short work of the cuffs Max winces with a sharp intake of air as her arms fall.

“Ugh I can’t feel my arms or hands properly.” She says it so quietly with a quiver in tone as she looks down.

I kneel back down in front of her and quickly pick the lock that’s attached to the chains around her.

I then take her hands and look over them and her wrists. They are bruised and bloody probably from how tight the cuffs were on and she was more than likely struggling to get free.

With a gentle squeeze, I start, “Hey?”

She looks up into my eyes with her teary sad ones which makes my heart tighten.

“I won’t let them hurt you again Max. I promise, ok?”

She nods but then her eyes well up with tears and spill over as her face changes to such anguish.

“I was so scared Chloe. I almost don’t believe you’re here now. I kept wishing you would come through that door. But it was never you... it was never you...”

I have to use everything I can to not breakdown seeing and hearing so much pain in her.

“I’m real Max, I’m real. And I am right here.” I bring her hand up to my cheek and hold it there, “See? It’s really me and I’m never going to leave you again, ever.”

She starts to sob more at that, but before I get to say anything the girl who I forgot about beats me to it.

“Hey erm, I don’t want to interrupt but maybe now is not the time. You need to get out of here.”

I take Max’s hand from my cheek, place a kiss to her palm and give her a smile.

Then I take my gun as I stand up and turn to the other girl with narrowed eyes, “Yeah you’re right!”

I make a quick lunge at her and slam her into the wall. I cock my gun and point it under her chin.

“We’re going now, but you’re not!”

“What are you—"

“Cleaning up loose ends!” I growl and place my finger on the trigger.

But then Max shouts, “Chloe stop!”

I hesitate as I ask, “What, why? She hurt you and needs to be put down like the rest of them!”

With a groan she replies, “She, she didn’t do anything to me.”

I remove my finger off the trigger, “But she’s one of them.” And look over to Max and see her struggling to stand up.

I quickly rush over to her and wrap my arms around her, “Hey, I got you.”

“I’m ok.” She tells me but she’s clearly not and she is struggling to stand properly.

“Max, I can see you’re not. So, let me help you?”

“I’m fine, really and you can’t very well cart me around and keep an eye out. It must just be I haven’t moved in a while.”

“That and they didn’t give her anything to eat and beat you.” The other girl adds with a bitter angry tone.

“They? Don’t you mean you?! You’re one of them too.” I retort as I wrap Max’s arm around me and help her to move.

“She isn’t one of them.” Max tells me.

“If it’s here and with this lot, then it’s one of them!”

“But she came in here when she wasn’t supposed too and offered me food.”

“Yes, but I also left you and didn’t help.” That girl says and she sounds angry at herself.

She then sighs with a head shake, “I’m sorry about that. But if you follow me, I can help you get out of here now.”

“No way! Do you think we’re stupid?” I question not trusting her.

“Yes, you probably are.” I narrow my eyes at her when she says that, “But what Max said before about you not able to carry her around. Well she’s right and you know it. I can help her while you do whatever it is you do.”

“No way I’m trusting—"

“Chloe please? I will just slow you down.” Max kind of pleads with me.

I look down at her and my whole body is screaming no fucking way. But I know she’s right about not being able to protect her properly, well that and those pleading and stern eyes of hers.

I sigh, “Fine, ok Max.” Then I look to the other girl, “If you try anything, I’ll—"

“Yes yes, you’ll blow my head off, disembowel me or some other scary thing.” The girl cuts me off with an eye roll as she comes over to us, “Just go and do your thing. We’ll be right behind you.”

With all the strength I have I very reluctantly take Max’s arm from me. I then as delicately as I can place my forehead to hers.

“I’m getting you out of here and then I’m going to get you that drink I said I would.” I tell her seriously and also to give her something nicer to think about.

She smiles at that, “Yeah, just don’t drink it yourself this time.”

“Ha no promises, so I may have to buy you two... Ok, you ready?” She nods, “Good.”

I give the girl a glare before I go to the door.

Just before I open it to check the hall I look back with a smirk, “Oh Max?”

“Yeah Chlo?”

“I know what I want now, for my reward.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

She looks confused for a moment before the penny drops and she shakes her head with a chuckle.

“Now is really not the time Chlo.” I snicker proud that I got her to smile and laugh.

As I go to open the door, I hear Max say, “But we’ll talk after you get us out of here.”

That brings a big smile to my lips and such an awesome feeling through my body.

I take a breath before I carefully open the door and have a peek out in the hallway. Seeing it clear, I grab my knife from where I left it imbedded in the wood, then wave them with me.

“Come on, let’s do this.”


End file.
